Tadpole-like downflows: A new mechanism for plasma heating in the flaring solar corona

Solar flares are a solar activity phenomenon powered by magnetic energy released rapidly through magnetic reconnection. So far the mechanisms for heating the flaring plasma are still under debate. Recently, the researchers from George Mason University, Peking University, etc. discovered that a group of dark tadpole-like downflows, produced during flares, collide with the apexes of flare loops, and strongly heat the surrounding plasma to a higher temperature of 10–20 MK. This discovery also provides a new and alternative explanation for the quasi-periodic pulsations that are often observed in solar and stellar flares.