94 research outputs found
High-Energy Aspects of Solar Flares: Overview of the Volume
In this introductory chapter, we provide a brief summary of the successes and
remaining challenges in understanding the solar flare phenomenon and its
attendant implications for particle acceleration mechanisms in astrophysical
plasmas. We also provide a brief overview of the contents of the other chapters
in this volume, with particular reference to the well-observed flare of 2002
July 23Comment: This is the introductory article for a monograph on the physics of
solar flares, inspired by RHESSI observations. The individual articles are to
appear in Space Science Reviews (2011
Turbulent kinetic energy in the energy balance of a solar flare
The energy released in solar flares derives from a reconfiguration of magnetic fields to a lower energy state, and is manifested in several forms, including bulk kinetic energy of the coronal mass ejection, acceleration of electrons and ions, and enhanced thermal energy that is ultimately radiated away across the electromagnetic spectrum from optical to X-rays. Using an unprecedented set of coordinated observations, from a suite of instruments, we here report on a hitherto largely overlooked energy component -- the kinetic energy associated with small-scale turbulent mass motions. We show that the spatial location of, and timing of the peak in, turbulent kinetic energy together provide persuasive evidence that turbulent energy may play a key role in the transfer of energy in solar flares. Although the kinetic energy of turbulent motions accounts, at any given time, for only \sim (0.5-1)\% of the energy released, its relatively rapid (\sim1-10~s) energization and dissipation causes the associated throughput of energy (i.e., power) to rival that of major components of the released energy in solar flares, and thus presumably in other astrophysical acceleration sites
Transient Magnetic and Doppler Features Related to the White-light Flares in NOAA 10486
Rapidly moving transient features have been detected in magnetic and Doppler
images of super-active region NOAA 10486 during the X17/4B flare of 28 October
2003 and the X10/2B flare of 29 October 2003. Both these flares were extremely
energetic white-light events. The transient features appeared during impulsive
phases of the flares and moved with speeds ranging from 30 to 50 km s.
These features were located near the previously reported compact acoustic
\cite{Donea05} and seismic sources \cite{Zharkova07}. We examine the origin of
these features and their relationship with various aspects of the flares, {\it
viz.}, hard X-ray emission sources and flare kernels observed at different
layers - (i) photosphere (white-light continuum), (ii) chromosphere (H
6563\AA), (iii) temperature minimum region (UV 1600\AA), and (iv) transition
region (UV 284\AA).Comment: 26 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in Solar
Physic
Recent Advances in Understanding Particle Acceleration Processes in Solar Flares
We review basic theoretical concepts in particle acceleration, with
particular emphasis on processes likely to occur in regions of magnetic
reconnection. Several new developments are discussed, including detailed
studies of reconnection in three-dimensional magnetic field configurations
(e.g., current sheets, collapsing traps, separatrix regions) and stochastic
acceleration in a turbulent environment. Fluid, test-particle, and
particle-in-cell approaches are used and results compared. While these studies
show considerable promise in accounting for the various observational
manifestations of solar flares, they are limited by a number of factors, mostly
relating to available computational power. Not the least of these issues is the
need to explicitly incorporate the electrodynamic feedback of the accelerated
particles themselves on the environment in which they are accelerated. A brief
prognosis for future advancement is offered.Comment: This is a chapter in a monograph on the physics of solar flares,
inspired by RHESSI observations. The individual articles are to appear in
Space Science Reviews (2011
Plan de actividades recreativas utilizando como medio el juego de balonmano adaptado, para los adolescentes entre 12 y 16 años del sexo masculino, de la circunscripción 117 El Batey de Sánchez, del Consejo Popular Las Ovas del municipio Pinar del Río
Este trabajo fue realizado en la circunscripción 117 “El Batey de Sánchez”, del Consejo Popular Las Ovas municipio Pinar del Río, el mismo surge debido a la carencia de actividades-físico recreativas destinadas a los adolescentes con edades comprendidas entre 12 y 16 años. Para su realización nos trazamos como problema científico el siguiente: ¿Cómo mejorar la recreación física en los adolescentes entre 12 y 16 años de edad del sexo masculino de la circunscripción 117 “El Batey de Sánchez”, del consejo popular las Ovas? el mismo surge por la problemática que presentan los adolescentes de esta circunscripción, dentro de los cuales podemos mencionar las peleas de gallos, perros, tomeguines, lo cual se pudo comprobar con la aplicación de los diferentes métodos utilizados en nuestro trabajo. Debido a la importancia del mismo nos propusimos el siguiente Objetivo: Aplicar un plan de actividades recreativas utilizando como medio el juego de balonmano adaptado para los adolescentes entre 12 y 16 años de edad del sexo masculino de la circunscripción 117 “El Batey de Sánchez”, del consejo popular Las Ovas municipio Pinar del Rió. Al final del mismo se presentan conclusiones y recomendaciones, las cuales dan respuestas a las interrogantes planteadas al comienz
A Revisit of the Masuda Flare
We revisit the flare on 1992 January 13, which is now universally termed the
"Masuda flare". The revisit is motivated not only by its uniqueness despite
accumulating observations of \hxr coronal emission, but also by the improvement
of Yohkoh hard X-ray imaging, which was achieved after the intensive
investigations on this celebrated event. Through an uncertainty analysis, we
show that the hard X-ray coronal source is located much closer to the soft
X-ray loop in the re-calibrated HXT images than in the original ones.
Specifically, the centroid of the M1-band (23--33 keV) coronal source is above
the brightest pixel of the SXT loop by ~5000+/-1000 km (~9600 km in the
original data); and above the apex of the 30% brightness contour of the SXT
loop by ~2000+/-1000 km (~7000 km in the original data). We suggest that this
change may naturally account for the fact that the spectrum of the coronal
emission was reported to be extremely hard below ~20 keV in the pre-calibration
investigations, whereas it has been considerably softer in the literature since
Sato's re-calibration circa 1999. Still, the coronal spectrum is flatter at
lower energies than at higher energies, owing to the lack of a similar source
in the L-band (14--23 keV), which remains a puzzle
A Quantitative Model of Energy Release and Heating by Time-dependent, Localized Reconnection in a Flare with a Thermal Loop-top X-ray Source
We present a quantitative model of the magnetic energy stored and then
released through magnetic reconnection for a flare on 26 Feb 2004. This flare,
well observed by RHESSI and TRACE, shows evidence of non-thermal electrons only
for a brief, early phase. Throughout the main period of energy release there is
a super-hot (T>30 MK) plasma emitting thermal bremsstrahlung atop the flare
loops. Our model describes the heating and compression of such a source by
localized, transient magnetic reconnection. It is a three-dimensional
generalization of the Petschek model whereby Alfven-speed retraction following
reconnection drives supersonic inflows parallel to the field lines, which form
shocks heating, compressing, and confining a loop-top plasma plug. The
confining inflows provide longer life than a freely-expanding or
conductively-cooling plasma of similar size and temperature. Superposition of
successive transient episodes of localized reconnection across a current sheet
produces an apparently persistent, localized source of high-temperature
emission. The temperature of the source decreases smoothly on a time scale
consistent with observations, far longer than the cooling time of a single
plug. Built from a disordered collection of small plugs, the source need not
have the coherent jet-like structure predicted by steady-state reconnection
models. This new model predicts temperatures and emission measure consistent
with the observations of 26 Feb 2004. Furthermore, the total energy released by
the flare is found to be roughly consistent with that predicted by the model.
Only a small fraction of the energy released appears in the super-hot source at
any one time, but roughly a quarter of the flare energy is thermalized by the
reconnection shocks over the course of the flare. All energy is presumed to
ultimately appear in the lower-temperature T<20 MK, post-flare loops
RHESSI Results -- Time For a Rethink?
Hard X-rays and gamma-rays are the most direct signatures of energetic
electrons and ions in the sun's atmosphere which is optically thin at these
energies and their radiation involves no coherent processes. Being collisional
they are complementary to gyro-radiation in probing atmospheric density as
opposed to magnetic field and the electrons are primarily 10--100 keV in
energy, complementing the (>100 keV) electrons likely responsible for microwave
bursts.
The pioneering results of the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager
(RHESSI) are raising the first new major questions concerning solar energetic
particles in many years. Some highlights of these results are discussed --
primarily around RHESSI topics on which the authors have had direct research
involvement -- particularly when they are raising the need for re-thinking of
entrenched ideas. Results and issues are broadly divided into discoveries in
the spatial, temporal and spectral domains, with the main emphasis on flare
hard X-rays/fast electrons but touching also on gamma-rays/ions, non-flare
emissions, and the relationship to radio bursts.Comment: Proceedings CESRA Workshop 2004: "The High Energy Solar Corona:
Waves, Eruptions, Particles", Lecture Notes in Physics, 2006 (accepted
Extreme Ultra-Violet Spectroscopy of the Lower Solar Atmosphere During Solar Flares
The extreme ultraviolet portion of the solar spectrum contains a wealth of
diagnostic tools for probing the lower solar atmosphere in response to an
injection of energy, particularly during the impulsive phase of solar flares.
These include temperature and density sensitive line ratios, Doppler shifted
emission lines and nonthermal broadening, abundance measurements, differential
emission measure profiles, and continuum temperatures and energetics, among
others. In this paper I shall review some of the advances made in recent years
using these techniques, focusing primarily on studies that have utilized data
from Hinode/EIS and SDO/EVE, while also providing some historical background
and a summary of future spectroscopic instrumentation.Comment: 34 pages, 8 figures. Submitted to Solar Physics as part of the
Topical Issue on Solar and Stellar Flare
A Statistical Survey of Hard X-ray Spectral Characteristics of Solar Flares with Two Footpoints
Using RHESSI data, we have analyzed some 172 hard X-ray peaks during 53 solar
flares which exhibited a double-footpoint structure. Fitting both footpoints
with power-laws, we find that spectral index differences range mostly between 0
to 0.6, and only rarely go beyond. Asymmetries between footpoints were not
observed to be significantly dependent on their mean heliographic position,
their relative position with respect to each other, nor their orientation with
respect to the solar equator. Assuming a symmetric acceleration process, it is
also clear that differences in footpoint spectral indices and footpoint flux
ratios can seldom be attributed to a difference in column densities between the
two legs of a coronal loop. Our results corroborate better the magnetic mirror
trap scenario. Moreover, footpoint asymmetries are more marked during times of
peak HXR flux than when averaging over the whole HXR burst, suggesting that the
magnetic configuration evolves during individual HXR bursts. We observed also a
linear correlation between the peak 50-keV flux and the peak GOES 1-8A channel
flux, and that HXR burst duration seem correlated with loop length.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures. Published in Solar Physic
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