Statistical Study of Solar Prominence Plumes Based on NVST H$α$ Observations

Abstract

Plumes are one of the most representative dynamic features observed in prominences and play a key role in mass and magnetic transport within them. However, their physical nature and triggering processes remain actively debated. Based on limb H$α$ observations from the New Vacuum Solar Telescope (NVST) during 2013--2025, we statistically investigated 34 plumes with clear and complete evolutions by developing an automated image-processing pipeline. It is revealed that plume lifetimes mainly range from 300 s to 700 s, with vertical displacements between 3--7 Mm. The mean widths and velocities are concentrated in the range of 0.5--1.5 Mm and 10--20 km s$^{-1}$, respectively. Besides wide distribution ranges, plume parameters exhibit irregular evolution fluctuations, indicating that the formation and evolution of various plumes may exhibit different physical patterns. Correlation analysis among the parameters further reveals that: (1) Positive correlations were found among lifetime, vertical displacement, and mean width, indicating an intrinsic coupling between the temporal and spatial scales of plumes. (2) Trajectory curvature is negatively correlated with lifetime, vertical displacement, and velocity. Accelerating and width-contracting plumes typically have lower curvature, suggesting that curvature may reflect environmental influences and the stability of plumes. (3) Plumes with higher initial velocities were more likely to be accompanied by precursor brightening, suggesting that these plumes may be triggered by magnetic reconnection. Furthermore, we infer that some plumes in non-bubble regions may be inherently driven by mini-filament eruptions. These results establish a statistical framework for prominence plumes and reveal diversity in their dynamical evolution and triggering mechanisms.