Rather fanciful cartoon describing the the correlations found among hard X-ray and microwave sources in a class of solar flares. Why should those coronal loops lean together in such a way as to reconnect? This configuration was originally discussed by Machado et al. in SMM papers not cited by Hanaoka. This kind of relationship is often interpreted as showing the interactions of two coronal loops ("loop-loop interaction"). That does not make too much sense if one takes the view that the loops are merely highlighted flux surfaces in a pervasive magnetic field that is much, much stronger than the gas it contains.
Please see the earlier Nakajima cartoon for (in my view) a clearer sketch, if not so three-dimensional.Jan. 17, 2007