Stereoscopic observations reveal coherent morphology and evolution of solar coronal loops

Abstract

Coronal loops generally trace magnetic lines of force in the upper solar atmosphere. Understanding the loop morphology and its temporal evolution has implications for coronal heating models that rely on plasma heating due to reconnection at current sheets. Simultaneous observations of coronal loops from multiple vantage points are best suited for this purpose. Here we report a stereoscopic analysis of coronal loops in an active region based on observations from the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager on board the Solar Orbiter Spacecraft and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. Our stereoscopic analysis reveals that coronal loops have nearly circular cross-sectional widths and that they exhibit temporally coherent intensity variations along their lengths on timescales of around 30 minutes. The results suggest that coronal loops can be best represented as three-dimensional monolithic or coherent plasma bundles that outline magnetic field lines. Therefore, at least on the scales resolved by Solar Orbiter, it is unlikely that coronal loops are manifestations of emission from the randomly aligned wrinkles in two-dimensional plasma sheets along the line of sight, as proposed in the coronal veil hypothesis.