13,036 research outputs found
Ion energy storage for post-flare loops
Low-energy non-thermal protons may have long lifetimes in coronal loops with low density and high temperature. If energy were stored in such protons in the initial phases of a solar flare, it could be released slowly during the later phases. Within the present observational limits for post-flare loops, this mechanism should be considered in addition to a field-line reconnection theory of the Kopp and Pneuman type. The thin-target gamma ray emission from the trapped protons is below present limits, but more sensitive observations can test the hypothesis
Characterization of total flare energy
It is concluded that the estimates of total energy in the prime flares lie well below the Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor upper limits. This is consistent with our knowledge of the energy distribution in solar flares. Insufficient data exist for us to be very firm about this conclusion, however, and major energetic components could exist undetected, especially in the EUV-XUV and optical bands. In addition, the radiant energy cannot quantitatively be compared at this time with non-radiant terms because of even larger uncertainties in the latter
Solar analysis of solar-constant monitoring package (SMM)
The activity cavity radiometer irradiance monitor is supplying the first high precision data on solar total irradiance at the Earth. Thee classes of variability were discovered: large variations of amplitudes up to 0.2%; small high frequency variations in the form of a continuum in the periodogram, extending up to the Nyquist frequency; and sharp spikes at frequencies corresponding to the individual p modes already known from radial velocity measurements. The observed variations (up to 0.3%, on time scales of several days) were identified with sunspot darkness. The data analysis is expected to give information about the solar interior, as well as about the solar input to the terrestrial climate
Solar coronal non-thermal processes (Solar Maximum Mission)
The Solar Maximum Mission was used to study solar coronal phenomena in hard X-radiation, since its instrument complement included the first solar hard X-ray telescope. Phenomena related to those discovered from OSO-5 and OSO-7 observations were emphasized
Relationships among the phases
The overall flare process involves phenomena characterized as the impulsive and gradual phases, following the X-ray signature first recognized by Kane (1969). In addition, evidence exists for a pre-flare phase in some flares, and recent Solar Maximum Mission data have shown that a post-flare phase, in which extensive and energetically important coronal activity occurs, may also exist. The data to describe the pre-flare and post-flare phases are insufficient to place them properly into an overall picture of the energetics, aside from noting that these phases may indeed be significant from the energetics point of view. What is presently known is reviewed and comments are made about the possible interactions among the flare structures involved
The correlation between soft and hard X-rays component in flares: from the Sun to the stars
In this work we study the correlation between the soft (1.6--12.4 keV, mostly
thermal) and the hard (20--40 and 60--80 keV, mostly non-thermal) X-ray
emission in solar flares up to the most energetic events, spanning about 4
orders of magnitude in peak flux, establishing a general scaling law and
extending it to the most intense stellar flaring events observed to date. We
used the data from the Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager
(RHESSI) spacecraft, a NASA Small Explorer launched in February 2002. RHESSI
has good spectral resolution (~1 keV in the X-ray range) and broad energy
coverage (3 keV--20 MeV), which makes it well suited to distinguish the thermal
from non-thermal emission in solar flares. Our study is based on the detailed
analysis of 45 flares ranging from the GOES C-class, to the strongest X-class
events, using the peak photon fluxes in the GOES 1.6--12.4 keV and in two bands
selected from RHESSI data, i.e.20--40 keV and 60--80 keV. We find a significant
correlation between the soft and hard peak X-ray fluxes spanning the complete
sample studied. The resulting scaling law has been extrapolated to the case of
the most intense stellar flares observed, comparing it with the stellar
observations. Our results show that an extrapolation of the scaling law derived
for solar flares to the most active stellar events is compatible with the
available observations of intense stellar flares in hard X-rays.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures. To be published in Astronomy and Astrophysic
First ALMA Observation of a Solar Plasmoid Ejection from an X-ray Bright Point
Eruptive phenomena such as plasmoid ejections or jets are an important
feature of solar activity with the potential for improving our understanding of
the dynamics of the solar atmosphere. Such ejections are often thought to be
signatures of the outflows expected in regions of fast magnetic reconnection.
The 304 A EUV line of Helium, formed at around 10^5 K, is found to be a
reliable tracer of such phenomena, but the determination of physical parameters
from such observations is not straightforward. We have observed a plasmoid
ejection from an X-ray bright point simultaneously at millimeter wavelengths
with ALMA, at EUV wavelengths with AIA, in soft X-rays with Hinode/XRT. This
paper reports the physical parameters of the plasmoid obtained by combining the
radio, EUV and X-ray data. As a result, we conclude that the plasmoid can
consist either of (approximately) isothermal 10^5 K plasma that is optically
thin at 100 GHz, or else a 10^4 K core with a hot envelope. The analysis
demonstrates the value of the additional temperature and density constraints
that ALMA provides, and future science observations with ALMA will be able to
match the spatial resolution of space-borne and other high-resolution
telescopes.Comment: 10 page, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal
Letter. The movie can be seen at the following link:
http://hinode.nao.ac.jp/user/shimojo/data_area/plasmoid/movie5.mp
Studying the Nature of Dark Energy with Galaxy Clusters
We report on the status of our effort to constrain the nature of dark energy
through the evolution of the cluster mass function. Chandra temperature
profiles for 31 clusters from a local cluster sample are shown. The X-ray
appearance of the proto supermassive binary black hole at the center of the
cluster Abell 400 is described. Preliminary weak lensing results obtained with
Megacam@MMT for a redshift z=0.5 cluster from a distant cluster sample are
given.Comment: 5 pages, to appear in: Aschenbach, B., Burwitz, V., Hasinger, G.,
Leibundgut, B. (eds.), Relativistic Astrophysics and Cosmology - Einstein's
Legacy. ESO Astrophysics Symposia, Springer Verlag, Berlin, German
Preliminary results of the University of California X-ray experiment on the OSO-3
Cosmic and solar X ray data obtained by Orbiting Solar Observatory /OSO-3
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