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Observation of super-Alfvénic slippage of reconnecting magnetic field lines on the Sun

Polito, Vanessa; De Pontieu, Bart; Aulanier, Guillaume +3 more

Slipping motions of magnetic field lines are a distinct signature of three-dimensional magnetic reconnection, a fundamental process driving solar and stellar flares. While being a key prediction of numerical experiments, the rapid super-Alfvénic field line slippage driven by the `slip-running' reconnection has remained elusive in previous observat…