Emission lines of Fe XI in the 257--407 A wavelength region observed in solar spectra from EIS/Hinode and SERTS

Theoretical emission-line ratios involving Fe XI transitions in the 257-407 A wavelength range are derived using fully relativistic calculations of radiative rates and electron impact excitation cross sections. These are subsequently compared with both long wavelength channel Extreme-Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) spectra from the Hinode satellite (covering 245-291 A), and first-order observations (235-449 A) obtained by the Solar Extreme-ultraviolet Research Telescope and Spectrograph (SERTS). The 266.39, 266.60 and 276.36 A lines of Fe XI are detected in two EIS spectra, confirming earlier identifications of these features, and 276.36 A is found to provide an electron density diagnostic when ratioed against the 257.55 A transition. Agreement between theory and observation is found to be generally good for the SERTS data sets, with discrepancies normally being due to known line blends, while the 257.55 A feature is detected for the first time in SERTS spectra. The most useful Fe XI electron density diagnostic is found to be the 308.54/352.67 intensity ratio, which varies by a factor of 8.4 between N_e = 10^8 and 10^11 cm^-3, while showing little temperature sensitivity. However, the 349.04/352.67 ratio potentially provides a superior diagnostic, as it involves lines which are closer in wavelength, and varies by a factor of 14.7 between N_e = 10^8 and 10^11 cm^-3. Unfortunately, the 349.04 A line is relatively weak, and also blended with the second-order Fe X 174.52 A feature, unless the first-order instrument response is enhanced.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 13 tables; MNRAS in pres

Plasma heating in the very early phase of solar flares

In this paper we analyze soft and hard X-ray emission of the 2002 September 20 M1.8 GOES class solar flare observed by RHESSI and GOES satellites. In this flare event, soft X-ray emission precedes the onset of the main bulk hard X-ray emission by ~5 min. This suggests that an additional heating mechanism may be at work at the early beginning of the flare. However RHESSI spectra indicate presence of the non-thermal electrons also before impulsive phase. So, we assumed that a dominant energy transport mechanism during rise phase of solar flares is electron beam-driven evaporation. We used non-thermal electron beams derived from RHESSI spectra as the heating source in a hydrodynamic model of the analyzed flare. We showed that energy delivered by non-thermal electron beams is sufficient to heat the flare loop to temperatures in which it emits soft X-ray closely following the GOES 1-8 A light-curve. We also analyze the number of non-thermal electrons, the low energy cut-off, electron spectral indices and the changes of these parameters with time.Comment: Comments: 17 pages, 5 figures, The Astrophysical Journal Letters (accepted, October 2009

Emission lines of Fe X in active region spectra obtained with the Solar Extreme-ultraviolet Research Telescope and Spectrograph

Fully relativistic calculations of radiative rates and electron impact excitation cross sections for Fe X are used to derive theoretical emission-line ratios involving transitions in the 174-366 A wavelength range. A comparison of these with solar active region observations obtained during the 1989 and 1995 flights of the Solar Extreme-ultraviolet Research Telescope and Spectrograph (SERTS) reveals generally very good agreement between theory and experiment. Several Fe X emission features are detected for the first time in SERTS spectra, while the transition at 195.32 A is identified for the first time (to our knowledge) in an astronomical source. The most useful Fe X electron density diagnostic line ratios are assessed to be 175.27/174.53 and 175.27/177.24, which both involve lines close in wavelength and free from blends, vary by factors of 13 between Ne = 1E8 and 1E13 cm-3, and yet show little temperature sensitivity. Should these lines not be available, then the 257.25/345.74 ratio may be employed to determine Ne, although this requires an accurate evaluation of the instrument intensity calibration over a relatively large wavelength range. However, if the weak 324.73 A line of Fe X is reliably detected, the use of 324.73/345.74 or 257.25/324.73 is recommended over 257.25/345.74.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, MNRAS in pres

The Effect of Needle Exchange Programs on Blood-Borne Illnesses

Needle exchange programs (NEPs) were created in order to improve the safety of people who inject drugs (PWIDs) and to reduce the risk of transmission of blood-borne illnesses. These programs provide PWIDs with clean needles in exchange for used needles. The purpose of this review is to determine whether or not NEPs are effective in reducing the transmission of blood-borne illnesses in PWIDs. This is important to nursing practice because nurses often work with PWIDs and are advocates for their patients, which requires EBP-backed treatment options. In order to conduct this review, five databases were used and eleven articles were selected. The eleven articles selected and utilized in this paper discuss the effectiveness and ineffectiveness, in some instances, of NEPs in reducing the transmission of blood-borne illnesses. Research indicates that the effect of NEPs on the transmission of blood-borne illnesses is inconclusive. For this reason, no practice change is indicated, but further research is recommended

Plasma heating in the very early and decay phases of solar flares

In this paper we analyze the energy budgets of two single-loop solar flares under the assumption that non-thermal electrons are the only source of plasma heating during all phases of both events. The flares were observed by the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) on September 20, 2002 and March 17, 2002, respectively. For both investigated flares we derived the energy fluxes contained in non-thermal electron beams from the RHESSI observational data constrained by observed GOES light-curves. We showed that energy delivered by non-thermal electrons was fully sufficient to fulfil the energy budgets of the plasma during the pre-heating and impulsive phases of both flares as well as during the decay phase of one of them. We concluded that in the case of the investigated flares there was no need to use any additional ad-hoc heating mechanisms other than heating by non-thermal electrons.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures, The Astrophysical Journal (accepted, March 2011

Flows in the solar atmosphere due to the eruptions on the 15th July, 2002

<p>Which kind of flows are present during flares? Are they compatible with the present understanding of energy release and which model best describes the observations? We analyze successive flare events in order to answer these questions. The flares were observed in the magnetically complex NOAA active region (AR) 10030 on 15 July 2002. One of them is of GOES X-class. The description of these flares and how they relate to the break-out model is presented in Gary & Moore (2004). The Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer on board SOHO observed this active region for around 14 h. The observed emission lines provided data from the transition region to the corona with a field of view covering more than half of the active region. In this paper we analyse the spatially resolved flows seen in the atmosphere from the preflare to the flare stages. We find evidence for evaporation occurring before the impulsive phase. During the main phase, the ongoing magnetic reconnection is demonstrated by upflows located at the edges of the flare loops (while downflows are found in the flare loops themselves). We also report the impact of a filament eruption on the atmosphere, with flows up to 300 km s<sup>-1</sup> observed at transition-region temperatures in regions well away from the location of the pre-eruptive filament. Our results are consistent with the predictions of the break out model before the impulsive phase of the flare; while, as the flare progresses, the directions of the flows are consistent with flare models invoking evaporation followed by cooling and downward plasma motions in the flare loops.</p&gt

Hydrogen Hα\alpha line polarization in solar flares. Theoretical investigation of atomic polarization by proton beams considering self-consistent NLTE polarized radiative transfer

Context. We present a theoretical review of the effect of impact polarization of a hydrogen H$\alpha$ line due to an expected proton beam bombardment in solar flares. Aims. Several observations indicate the presence of the linear polarization of the hydrogen H$\alpha$ line observed near the solar limb above 5% and preferentially in the radial direction. We theoretically review the problem of deceleration of the beam originating in the coronal reconnection site due to its interaction with the chromospheric plasma, and describe the formalism of the density matrix used in our description of the atomic processes and the treatment of collisional rates. Methods. We solve the self-consistent NLTE radiation transfer problem for the particular semiempirical chromosphere models for both intensity and linear polarization components of the radiation field. Results. In contrast to recent calculations, our results show that the energy distribution of the proton beam at H$\alpha$ formation levels and depolarizing collisions by background electrons and protons cause a significant reduction of the effect below 0.1%. The radiation transfer solution shows that tangential resonance-scattering polarization dominates over the impact polarization effect in all considered models. Conclusions. In the models studied, proton beams are unlikely to be a satisfying explanation for the observed linear polarization of the H$\alpha$ line.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Fe XI emission lines in a high resolution extreme ultraviolet spectrum obtained by SERTS

New calculations of radiative rates and electron impact excitation cross sections for Fe XI are used to derive emission line intensity ratios involving 3s^23p^4 - 3s^23p^33d transitions in the 180-223 A wavelength range. These ratios are subsequently compared with observations of a solar active region, obtained during the 1995 flight Solar EUV Research Telescope and Spectrograph (SERTS). The version of SERTS flown in 1995 incorporated a multilayer grating that enhanced the instrumental sensitivity for features in the 170 - 225 A wavelength range, observed in second-order between 340 and 450 A. This enhancement led to the detection of many emission lines not seen on previous SERTS flights, which were measured with the highest spectral resolution (0.03 A) ever achieved for spatially resolved active region spectra in this wavelength range. However, even at this high spectral resolution, several of the Fe XI lines are found to be blended, although the sources of the blends are identified in the majority of cases. The most useful Fe XI electron density diagnostic line intensity ratio is I(184.80 A)/I(188.21 A). This ratio involves lines close in wavelength and free from blends, and which varies by a factor of 11.7 between N_e = 10^9 and 10^11 cm^-3, yet shows little temperature sensitivity. An unknown line in the SERTS spectrum at 189.00 A is found to be due to Fe XI, the first time (to our knowledge) this feature has been identified in the solar spectrum. Similarly, there are new identifications of the Fe XI 192.88, 198.56 and 202.42 A features, although the latter two are blended with S VIII/Fe XII and Fe XIII, respectively.Comment: 21 pages, 9 gigures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

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