The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory has provided unique observations of off-limb flare emission. White-light continuum enhancements were detected in the ..."continuum" channel of the Fe 6173 line during the impulsive phase of the observed flares. In this paper we aim to determine which radiation mechanism is responsible for such enhancement being seen above the limb, at chromospheric heights around or below 1000 km. Using a simple analytical approach, we compare two candidate mechanisms, the hydrogen recombination continuum (Paschen) and the Thomson continuum due to scattering of disk radiation on flare electrons. Both mechanisms depend on the electron density, which is typically enhanced during the impulsive phase of a flare as the result of collisional ionization (both thermal and also non-thermal due to electron beams). We conclude that for electron densities higher than 1012 cm−3, the Paschen recombination continuum significantly dominates the Thomson scattering continuum and there is some contribution from the hydrogen free-free emission. This is further supported by detailed radiation-hydrodynamical (RHD) simulations of the flare chromosphere heated by the electron beams. We use the RHD code FLARIX to compute the temporal evolution of the flare-heating in a semi-circular loop. The synthesized continuum structure above the limb resembles the off-limb flare structures detected by HMI, namely their height above the limb, as well as the radiation intensity. These results are consistent with recent findings related to hydrogen Balmer continuum enhancements, which were clearly detected in disk flares by the IRIS near-ultraviolet spectrometer.
The Solar Orbiter mission Müller, D.; St. Cyr, O. C.; Zouganelis, I. ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
10/2020, Letnik:
642
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Aims.
Solar Orbiter, the first mission of ESA’s Cosmic Vision 2015–2025 programme and a mission of international collaboration between ESA and NASA, will explore the Sun and heliosphere from close up ...and out of the ecliptic plane. It was launched on 10 February 2020 04:03 UTC from Cape Canaveral and aims to address key questions of solar and heliospheric physics pertaining to how the Sun creates and controls the Heliosphere, and why solar activity changes with time. To answer these, the mission carries six remote-sensing instruments to observe the Sun and the solar corona, and four in-situ instruments to measure the solar wind, energetic particles, and electromagnetic fields. In this paper, we describe the science objectives of the mission, and how these will be addressed by the joint observations of the instruments onboard.
Methods.
The paper first summarises the mission-level science objectives, followed by an overview of the spacecraft and payload. We report the observables and performance figures of each instrument, as well as the trajectory design. This is followed by a summary of the science operations concept. The paper concludes with a more detailed description of the science objectives.
Results.
Solar Orbiter will combine in-situ measurements in the heliosphere with high-resolution remote-sensing observations of the Sun to address fundamental questions of solar and heliospheric physics. The performance of the Solar Orbiter payload meets the requirements derived from the mission’s science objectives. Its science return will be augmented further by coordinated observations with other space missions and ground-based observatories.
Propagating coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are often accompanied by burst signatures in radio spectrogram data. We present Nancay Radioheliograph observations of a moving source of broadband radio ...emission, commonly referred to as a type IV radio burst (type IVM), which occurred in association with a CME on the 14th of August 2010. The event was well observed at extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths by SDO/AIA and PROBA2/SWAP, and by the STEREO SECCHI and SOHO LASCO white light (WL) coronagraphs. The EUV and WL observations show the type IVM source to be cospatial with the CME core. The observed spectra is well fitted by a power law with a negative slope, which is consistent with optically thin gyrosynchrotron emission. The spectrum shows no turn over at the lowest Nancay frequencies. By comparing simulated gyrosynchrotron spectra with Nancay Radioheliograph observations, and performing a rigorous parameter search we are able to constrain several key parameters of the underlying plasma. Simulated spectra found to fit the data suggest a nonthermal electron distribution with a low energy cutoff of several tens to 100 keV, with a nonthermal electron density in the range 10 super(0)-10 super(2) cm super(-3), in a magnetic field of a few Gauss. The nonthermal energy content of the source is found to contain 0.001%-0.1% of the sources thermal energy content. Furthermore, the energy loss timescale for this distribution equates to several hours, suggesting that the electrons could be accelerated during the CME initiation or early propagation phase and become trapped in the magnetic structure of the CME core without the need to be replenished.
This review surveys the statistics of solar X-ray flares, emphasising the new views that
RHESSI
has given us of the weaker events (the microflares). The new data reveal that these microflares ...strongly resemble more energetic events in most respects; they occur solely within active regions and exhibit high-temperature/nonthermal emissions in approximately the same proportion as major events. We discuss the distributions of flare parameters (e.g., peak flux) and how these parameters correlate, for instance via the Neupert effect. We also highlight the systematic biases involved in intercomparing data representing many decades of event magnitude. The intermittency of the flare/microflare occurrence, both in space and in time, argues that these discrete events do not explain general coronal heating, either in active regions or in the quiet Sun.
Solar flares produce hard X-ray emission, the photon spectrum of which is often represented by a combination of thermal and power-law distributions. However, the estimates of the number and total ...energy of non-thermal electrons are sensitive to the determination of the power-law cutoff energy. Here, we revisit an "above-the-loop" coronal source observed by RHESSI on 2007 December 31 and show that a kappa distribution model can also be used to fit its spectrum. Because the kappa distribution has a Maxwellian-like core in addition to a high-energy power-law tail, the emission measure and temperature of the instantaneous electrons can be derived without assuming the cutoff energy. Moreover, the non-thermal fractions of electron number/energy densities can be uniquely estimated because they are functions of only the power-law index. With the kappa distribution model, we estimated that the total electron density of the coronal source region was ~2.4 x 10 super(10) cm super(-3). We also estimated without assuming the source volume that a moderate fraction (~20%) of electrons in the source region was non-thermal and carried ~52% of the total electron energy. The temperature was 28 MK, and the power-law index delta of the electron density distribution was -4.3. These results are compared to the conventional power-law models with and without a thermal core component.
We present an overview of solar flares and associated phenomena, drawing upon a wide range of observational data primarily from the
RHESSI
era. Following an introductory discussion and overview of ...the status of observational capabilities, the article is split into topical sections which deal with different areas of flare phenomena (footpoints and ribbons, coronal sources, relationship to coronal mass ejections) and their interconnections. We also discuss flare soft X-ray spectroscopy and the energetics of the process. The emphasis is to describe the observations from multiple points of view, while bearing in mind the models that link them to each other and to theory. The present theoretical and observational understanding of solar flares is far from complete, so we conclude with a brief discussion of models, and a list of missing but important observations.
We studied the coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and flares associated with large solar energetic particle (SEP) events of solar cycle 23 (1996–2002) in order to determine what property of the solar ...eruptions might order the SEP intensity. The SEP events were divided into three groups: (1) events in which the primary CME was preceded by one or more wide CMEs from the same solar source, (2) events with no such preceding CMEs, and (3) events in which the primary CME might have interacted with a streamer or with a nearby halo CME. The SEP intensities are distinct for groups 1 and 2 although the CME properties were nearly identical. Group 3 was similar to group 1. The primary findings of this study are as follows: (1) Higher SEP intensity results whenever a CME is preceded by another wide CME from the same source region. (2) The average flare size was also larger for high‐intensity SEP events. (3) The intensity of SEP events with preceding CMEs showed a tighter correlation with CME speed. The extent of scatter in the CME speed versus SEP intensity plots was reduced when various subgroups were considered separately. (4) The intensities of energetic electrons were better correlated with flare size than with CME speed. (5) The SEP intensity showed poor correlation with the flare size, except for group 3 events. Since only a third of the events did not have preceding CMEs, we conclude that the majority of SEP producing CMEs propagate through the near‐Sun interplanetary medium severely disturbed and distorted by the preceding CMEs. Furthermore, the preceding CMEs are faster and wider on the average, so they may provide seed particles for CME‐driven shocks that follow. Therefore we conclude that the differing intensities of SEP events in the two groups may not have resulted due to the inherent properties of the CMEs. The presence of preceding CMEs seems to be the discriminating characteristic of the high‐ and low‐intensity SEP events.
Using the potential of two unprecedented missions, Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) and Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI), we study three well-observed ...fast coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that occurred close to the limb together with their associated high-energy flare emissions in terms of RHESSI hard X-ray (HXR) spectra and flux evolution. From STEREO/EUVI and STEREO/COR1 data, the full CME kinematics of the impulsive acceleration phase up to {approx}4 R{sub sun} is measured with a high time cadence of <=2.5 minutes. For deriving CME velocity and acceleration, we apply and test a new algorithm based on regularization methods. The CME maximum acceleration is achieved at heights h <= 0.4 R{sub sun}, and the peak velocity at h <= 2.1 R{sub sun} (in one case, as small as 0.5 R{sub sun}). We find that the CME acceleration profile and the flare energy release as evidenced in the RHESSI HXR flux evolve in a synchronized manner. These results support the 'standard' flare/CME model which is characterized by a feedback relationship between the large-scale CME acceleration process and the energy release in the associated flare.
We present the first statistical analysis of the thermal and nonthermal X-ray emission of all 25,705 microflares (RHESSI) observed between 2002 March and 2007 March. These events were found by ...searching the 6-12 keV energy range (see Paper I) and are small active region flares, from low (GOES) C class to below A class. Each microflare is automatically analyzed at the peak time of the 6-12 keV emission: the thermal source size is found by forward-fitting the complex visibilities for 4-8 keV, and the spectral parameters (temperature, emission measure, power-law index) are found by forward-fitting a thermal plus nonthermal model. The resulting wealth of information we determine about the events allows a range of the thermal and nonthermal properties to be investigated. In particular, we find that there is no correlation between the thermal loop size and the flare magnitude, indicating that microflares are not necessarily spatially small. We present the first thermal energy distribution of RHESSI flares and compare it to previous thermal energy distributions of transient events. We also present the first nonthermal power distribution of RHESSI flares and find that a few microflares have unexpectedly large nonthermal powers up to image erg s super(-1). The total microflare nonthermal energy, however, is still small compared to that of large flares as it occurs for shorter durations. These large energies and difficulties in analyzing the steep nonthermal spectra suggest that a sharp broken power law and thick-target bremsstrahlung model may not be appropriate for microflares.
We present RHESSI imaging of three flares (2003 October 28 and 29 and November 2) in the 2.223 MeV neutron-capture gamma-ray line with angular resolution as high as 35". Comparisons of imaged and ...spatially integrated fluences show that in all cases most, if not all, of the emission was confined to compact sources with size scales of tens of arcseconds or smaller that are located within the flare active region. Thus, the gamma-ray-producing ions appear to be accelerated by the flare process and not by a widespread shock driven by a fast coronal mass ejection. The 28 October event yielded the first such image to show double-footpoint gamma-ray line sources. These footpoint sources straddled the flaring loop arcade but were displaced from the corresponding 0.2-0.3 MeV electron-bremsstrahlung emission footpoints by 14" and 17" c 5". As with the previously studied 2002 July 23 event, this implies spatial differences in acceleration and/or propagation between the flare-accelerated ions and electrons.
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