Abstract

Images from the Hinode satellite have led to the discovery of dark upflows that propagate from the base of prominences, developing highly turbulent profiles. The magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor instability has been hypothesized as the mechanism to create these plumes. To study the physics behind this phenomenon we use 3D magnetohydrodynamic simulations to investigate the nonlinear stability of the Kippenhahn-Shlüter prominence model to the magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor instability. The model simulates the rise of a buoyant tube inside a quiescent prominence, where the upper boundary between the tube and prominence model is perturbed to excite the interchange of magnetic field lines. We find upflows of constant velocity (maximum found 6 km s^-1) and a maximum plume width ≈ 1500 km which propagate through a height of approximately 6 Mm, in general agreement with the Hinode observations.