Using Supra-Arcade Downflows as Probes of Electron Acceleration During Solar Flares

Extracting information from coronal features above flares has become more reliable with the availability of increasingly higher spatial and temporal-resolution data in recent decades. We are now able to sufficiently probe the region high above long-duration flaring active regions where reconnection is expected to be continually occurring. Flows in the supra-arcade region, first observed with Yohkoh/SXT, have been theorized to be associated with newly-reconnected outflowing loops. High resolution data appears to confirm these assertions. Assuming that these flows are indeed reconnection outflows, then the detection of those directed toward the solar surface (i.e. downflowing) should be associated with particle acceleration between the current sheet and the loop footpoints rooted in the chromosphere. RHESSI observations of highly energetic particles with respect to downflow detections could potentially constrain electron acceleration models. I will discuss measurements of these supra-arcade downflows (SADs) in relation to reconnection model parameters and present preliminary findings comparing the downflow timings with high-energy RHESSI lightcurves

Exploring the Middle Corona

No abstract availabl

NASA Mission Management Updates to the Hinode Science Working Group

No abstract availabl

Signatures of the non-Maxwellian κ\kappa-distributions in optically thin line spectra. II. Synthetic Fe XVII--XVIII X-ray coronal spectra and predictions for the Marshall Grazing-Incidence X-ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS)

We investigated the possibility of diagnosing the degree of departure from the Maxwellian distribution using the Fe XVII - Fe XVIII spectra originating in plasmas in collisional ionization equilibrium, such as in the cores of solar active regions or microflares. The original collision strengths for excitation are integrated over the non-Maxwellian electron $\kappa$-distributions characterized by a high-energy tail. Synthetic X-ray emission line spectra were calculated for a range of temperatures and $\kappa$. We focus on the 6-24 A spectral range to be observed by the upcoming Marshall Grazing-Incidence X-ray Spectrometer MaGIXS. We find that many line intensity ratios are sensitive to both $T$ and $\kappa$. Best diagnostic options are provided if a ratio involving both Fe XVII and Fe XVIII is combined with another ratio involving lines formed within a single ion. The sensitivity of such diagnostics to $\kappa$ is typically a few tens of per cent. Much larger sensitivity, of about a factor of two to three, can be obtained if the Fe XVIII 93.93 A line observed by SDO/AIA is used in conjuction with the X-ray lines. We conclude that the MaGIXS instrument is well-suited for detection of departures from the Maxwellian distribution, especially in active region cores.Comment: Astronomy & Astrophysics, accepte

Quantitative Examination of a Large Sample of Supra-Arcade Downflows in Eruptive Solar Flares

Sunward-flowing voids above post-coronal mass ejection (CME) flare arcades were first discovered using the soft X-ray telescope (SXT) aboard Yohkoh and have since been observed with TRACE (extreme ultra-violet (EUV)), SOHO/LASCO (white light), SOHO/SUMER (EUV spectra), and Hinode/XRT (soft X-rays (SXR)). Supra-arcade downflow (SAD) observations suggest that they are the cross-sections of thin flux tubes retracting from a reconnection site high in the corona. Supra-arcade downflowing loops (SADLs) have also been observed under similar circumstances and are theorized to be SADs viewed from a perpendicular angle. Previous studies have presented detailed SAD observations for a small number of flares. In this paper we present a substantial SADs and SADLs flare catalog. We have applied semi-automatic detection software to several of these events to detect and track individual downflows thereby providing statistically significant samples of parameters such as velocity, acceleration, area, magnetic flux, shrinkage energy, and reconnection rate. We discuss these measurements, how they were obtained, and potential impact on reconnection models.Comment: Submitted to ApJ -- 33 pages, 13 figure

Hi-C2.1 Observations of Solar Jetlets at Edges of Network Lanes

We present high resolution (0.2) high cadence (5s) extreme ultraviolet (EUV) observations of small-scale jetlet-like features and spicule-like features observed with NASAs High-resolution Coronal Imager2.1 (Hi-C) during its 5min observing span. We investigate the magnetic setting of 4 on-disk jetlets and 2 on-disk spicules by using high resolution 172A images from Hi-C and EUV images from Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and line-of-sight magnetograms from SDO/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI). The jetlets and spicules are at edges of magnetic network lanes. From magnetograms co-aligned with the Hi-C and AIA images, we find that the jetlets stem from sites of likely flux cancelation between merging majority-polarity and weaker minority-polarity flux, but in contrast to larger jetlets observed by IRIS some do not show obvious enhanced brightenings at their base. Based on the similarity of these observations of approx. 4 obvious Hi-C small jetlets with our previous observations of 10 IRIS larger jetlets and approx. 30 coronal jets in quiet regions and coronal holes, we infer that flux cancelation is probably the essential process in the buildup and triggering of jetlets. Our observations suggest that network jetlet eruptions, large and small, are small-scale analogs of both larger-scale coronal jet eruptions and the still-larger-scale eruptions that makemajor CMEs. For simplicitywe will use termjetlets for jetlet-like features and spicules for spicule-like features

Experimental evidence for phonemic contrasts in a nonhuman vocal system

The ability to generate new meaning by rearranging combinations of meaningless sounds is a fundamental component of language. Although animal vocalizations often comprise combinations of meaningless acoustic elements, evidence that rearranging such combinations generates functionally distinct meaning is lacking. Here, we provide evidence for this basic ability in calls of the chestnut-crowned babbler (Pomatostomus ruficeps), a highly cooperative bird of the Australian arid zone. Using acoustic analyses, natural observations, and a series of controlled playback experiments, we demonstrate that this species uses the same acoustic elements (A and B) in different arrangements (AB or BAB) to create two functionally distinct vocalizations. Specifically, the addition or omission of a contextually meaningless acoustic element at a single position generates a phoneme-like contrast that is sufficient to distinguish the meaning between the two calls. Our results indicate that the capacity to rearrange meaningless sounds in order to create new signals occurs outside of humans. We suggest that phonemic contrasts represent a rudimentary form of phoneme structure and a potential early step towards the generative phonemic system of human language

Preview of First Results from Hi-C 2.1 and IRIS

No abstract availabl

Reconnection Outflows and Current Sheet Observed with Hinode/XRT in the 2008 April 9 "Cartwheel CME" Flare

Supra-arcade downflows (SADs) have been observed with Yohkoh/SXT (soft X-rays (SXR)), TRACE (extreme ultra-violet (EUV)), SoHO/LASCO (white light), SoHO/SUMER (EUV spectra), and Hinode/XRT (SXR). Characteristics such as low emissivity and trajectories which slow as they reach the top of the arcade are consistent with post-reconnection magnetic flux tubes retracting from a reconnection site high in the corona until they reach a lower-energy magnetic configuration. Viewed from a perpendicular angle, SADs should appear as shrinking loops rather than downflowing voids. We present XRT observations of supra-arcade downflowing loops (SADLs) following a coronal mass ejection (CME) on 2008 April 9 and show that their speeds and decelerations are consistent with those determined for SADs. We also present evidence for a possible current sheet observed during this flare that extends between the flare arcade and the CME. Additionally, we show a correlation between reconnection outflows observed with XRT and outgoing flows observed with LASCO.Comment: 32 pages, 23 figures, Accepted for publication by the Astrophysical Journal (Oct. 2010