Click on the image above for a larger .gif version.
Two views of the loop shrinkage (called "dipolarization" in the magnetospheric literature) following large-scale reconnection. Left, reconnection in the "supermagnetosonic regime"; right, the same in the "submagnetosonic regime", described by the authors as reflecting strong and weak reconnecting fields respectively. Perhaps there is a way to explain slow reconnection outflows - sort of what the SADs seem to be showing us.
Note that the left cartoon is neatly labeled "hard X-rays" at loop top, whereas almost invariably the hard X-rays come from the loop footpoints. This seems pretty far off the mark. However the process of shrinkage seems consistent with the Archivist's own cartoon, so how wrong could it be?
6-Jan-08 (cheap-shot repair & routine maintenance)