Coronal X-ray activity preceding solar flares

A comprehensive survey of Skylab S-054 soft X-ray images was performed to investigate the characteristics of coronal enhancements preceding solar flares. A search interval of 30 min before flare onset was used. A control sample was developed and tests of the statistical results performed. X-ray images with preflare enhancements were compared with high resolution H images and photospheric magnetograms.The results are as follows: preflare X-ray enhancements were found in a statistically significant number of the preflare intervals, and consisted of one to three loops, kernels or sinuous features per interval. Typically, the preflare feature was not at the flare site and did not reach flare brightness. There was no systematically observed time within the preflare interval for the preflare events to appear and no correlation of preflare event characteristics with the subsequent flare energy. Gas pressures of several preflare features were calculated to be on the order of several dyne cm^–2, typical of active region loops, not flares. These results suggest that observations with both high spatial resolution and low coronal temperature sensitivity are required to detect these small, low pressure enhancements that preceded the smaller flares typical of the Skylab epoch. H brightenings were associated with nearly all of the preflare X-ray enhancements. Changing H absorption features in the form of surges or filament activations were observed in about half of the cases. These results do not provide observational support for models which involve preheating of the flare loop, but they are consistent with some current sheet models which invoke the brightening of structures displaced from the flare site tens of min before onset.     

A multiwavelength study of a double impulsive flare

Extensive data from the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) and ground-based observatories are presented for two flares; the first occurred at 12:48 UT on 31 August, 1980 and the second just 3 min later. They were both compact events located in the same part of the active region. The first flare appeared as a typical X-ray flare: the Caxix X-ray lines were broadened ( 190±40 km s^-1) and blue shifted ( 60±20 km s^-1) during the impulsive phase, and there was a delay of about 30 s between the hard and soft X-ray maxima. The relative brightness of the two flares was different depending on the spectral region being used to observe them, the first being the brighter at microwave and hard X-ray wavelengths but fainter in soft X-rays. The second flare showed no significant mass motions, and the impulsive and gradual phases were almost simultaneous. The physical characteristics of the two flares are derived and compared. The main difference between them was in the pre-flare state of the coronal plasma at the flare site: before the first flare it was relatively cool (3 × 10⁶ K) and tenuous (4 × 10⁹ cm^-3), but owing to the residual effects of the first flare the coronal plasma was hotter (5 × 10⁶ K) and more dense (3 × 10¹¹ cm^-3) at the onset of the second flare. We are led to believe from these data that the plasma filling the flaring loops absorbed most of the energy released during the impulsive phase of the second flare, so that only a fraction of the energy could reach the chromosphere to produce mass motions and turbulence.A simple study of the brightest flares observed by the SMM shows that at least 43% of them are multiple. Thus, the situation studied here may be quite common, and the difference in initial plasma conditions could explain at least some of the large variations in observed flare parameters. We draw a number of conclusions from this study. First, the evolution of the second flare is substantially affected by the presence of the first flare. Secondly, the primary energy release in the second event is in the corona. Thirdly, the flares occur in a decaying magnetic region, probably as a result of the interaction of existing sheared loops; there is no evidence of emerging magnetic flux. Also, magnetic structures of greatly varying size participate in the flare processes. Lastly, there is some indication that the loops are not symmetrical or stable throughout the flares, i.e. the magnetic field does not act as a uniform passive bottle for the plasma, as is often assumed in flare models.NOAA/Space Environment Laboratory, currently at NASA/MSFC, Ala., U.S.A.Now at Sacramento Peak Observatory, Tucson, Ariz., U.S.A.     

The decay of coronal loops brightened by flares and transients

The sizes and shapes of X-ray emitting loops brightened by flares and other coronal transients have been derived from the Skylab S-054 photographs. This information has been combined with estimates of temperature and emission measure derived from the photographs and from Solrad data to compute brightness decay times attributable to various coronal energy loss mechanisms. The computed decay times are compared to those actually observed. Examples are presented of the brightness decay of soft X-ray flare kernels, post-flare loops, and the coronal X-ray enhancement asssociated with an H filament disappearance.The computed decay time due to conductive losses is always found to be much more rapid than that due to radiative losses in the corona. However, the observed soft X-ray brightness decay times are always much longer than those computed from conductive cooling.The role of geometrical inhibition of conduction as discussed by Antiochos and Sturrock (1976a) is examined for these events. It is shown that this mechanism might be adequate to account for the observed results in two of the five cases examined, but it is inadequate in the other three. The possible breakdown of classical collisional thermal conductivity (Forslund, 1970) is examined and it is shown that this mechanism is not applicable to the cases presented here. Confirmation of the existence of the very high conductive fluxes predicted by the coronal flare conductive cooling models is sought from EUV and H observations. No evidence is found which unequivocally demonstrates the presence, at lower levels in the atmosphere, of very high conductive fluxes. The soft X-ray results are consistent with the continuation of evaporation driven by thermal conduction (Antiochos and Sturrock, 1976b) late into the decay phase of the event. In this case, no source of continued magnetic energy dissipation after the initial stages of the flare is required to explain the lifetime of the X-ray emitting loops.     

Continuous energy injection at numerous bright points during soft X-ray flare enhancement

The common assumption that a single volume of plasma produces X-ray emission during solar flares is difficult to reconcile with the very complex structure observed in H spectroheliograms. Nevertheless such a model has been considered reasonably adequate because the rapid rise and slow decay of emission has approximately the form expected when a plasma volume, isolated thermally from its surroundings, is heated quickly in the early stages of the event.Data presented in this paper show that a number of secondary peaks in intensity are usually observed throughout the soft X-ray emission. These can be explained by a model in which the X-ray emission comes from many relatively short-lived volumes of hot plasma. It appears that the lifetime of each such region is about five minutes, while the H spectroheliograms suggest that they are spaced throughout the extended region of activity. The relatively long period of flare activity arises because new volumes of plasma appear as others decay. Since each of these regions has to be energized during its development it is concluded that energy is released throughout the period of the X-ray flare.On leave of absence from the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London WC1E-6BT.     

Analysis of X-ray observations of the 15 June 1973 flare in active region NOAA 131

Observations and analyses of the 1B/M3 flare of 15 June, 1973 in active region NOAA 131 (McMath 12379) are presented. The X-ray observations, consisting of broadband photographs and proportional counter data from the Skylab/ATM NASA-MSFC/Aerospace S-056 experiment, are used to infer temperatures, emission measures, and densities for the flaring plasma. The peak temperature from the spatially resolved photographs is 25 × 10⁶ K, while the temperature from the full-disk proportional counter data is 15 × 10⁶ K. The density is 3 × 10¹⁰cm^–3. The X-ray flare emission appears to come primarily from two low-lying curvilinear features lying perpendicular to and centered on the line where the photospheric longitudinal magnetic field is zero. Similarities in the preflare and postflare X-ray emission patterns indicate that no large-scale relaxation of the coronal magnetic configuration was observed. Also discussed are H and magnetic field observations of the flare and the active region. Finally, results of numerical calculations, including thermal conduction, radiative loss and chromospheric evaporation, are in qualitative agreement with the decay phase observations.Presently at NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center.     

Observations of limb flares with a soft X-ray telescope

The structure and evolution of 26 limb flares have been observed with a soft X-ray telescope flown on Skylab. The results are:

1. One or more well defined loops were the only structures of flare intensity observed during the rise phase and near flare maximum, except for knots which were close to the resolution of the telescope in size (≈2 arc seconds) and whose structure can therefore not be determined.
2. The flare core features were always sharply defined during the rise phase.
3. For the twenty events which contain loops, the geometry of the structure near maximum was that of a loop in ten cases, a loop with a spike at the top in four cases, a cusp or triangle in four cases, and a cusp combined with a spike in another two cases.
4. Of the fifteen cases in which sufficient data were available to allow us to follow a flare's evolution, five showed no significant geometrical deviation from a loop structure, one displayed little change except for a small scale short-lived perturbation on one side of the loop 10 seconds before a type III radio burst was observed, eight underwent a large scale deformation of the loop or loops on a time scale comparable to that of the flare itself and one double loop event changed in a complex and undetermined manner, with reconnection being one possibility.

Based on observation of the original film, it is suggested that the eight flares which underwent large scale deformations had become unstable to MHD kinks. This implies that these flares occurred in magnetic flux tubes through which significant currents were flowing. It is suggested that the high energy electrons responsible for type III bursts accompanying these flares could have been accelerated by the V x B electric field induced by a small scale short-lived perturbation of parts of a flaring flux tube, similar to the one perturbation which was observed having these characteristics.     

Further analysis of temperature and emission measure during the decay phase of solar flares derived from soft X-ray light curves

The light curves of soft X-ray lines, observed by the Flat Crystal Spectrometer on Solar Maximum Mission during eight solar flares are modeled to determine the plasma temperature and emission measure as functions of time using the method first presented by Bornmann (1985, Paper I), but modified to include a ² search routine. With this modification the technique becomes more general, more accurate, and applicable throughout the gradual phase of the flare. The model reproduces the light curves of the soft X-ray lines throughout these flares. Model fits were repeated for each flare using five different sets of published line emissivity calculations. The emissivities of Mewe and Gronenschild (1981) consistenly gave the best fits to the observed light curves for each flare.     

The structure and evolution of a solar flare as observed in 3.5–30 keV X-rays

On July 5, 1980 the Hard X-Ray Imaging Spectrometer on board the Solar Maximum Mission observed a complex flare event starting at 22 : 32 UT from AR 2559 (Hale 16955), then at N 28 W 29, which developed finally into a 2-ribbon flare. In this paper we compare the X-ray images with Hα photographs taken at the Big Bear Solar Observatory and identify the site of the most energetic flare phenomena. During the early phases of the event the hard X-rays (>16 keV) came from a compact source located near one of the two bright Hα kernels; we believe the latter are at the footpoints of a compact magnetic loop. The kernel identified with the X-ray source is immediately adjacent to one of the principal sunspots and in fact appears to ‘rotate’ around the sunspot over 90° in the early phase of the flare. Two intense X-ray bursts occur at the site of the rotating kernel, and following each burst the loop fills with hot, X-ray emitting plasma. If the first burst is interpreted as bremsstrahlung from a beam of electrons impinging on a collisionally dominated medium, the energy in such electrons, >16 keV, is ～ 5 × 10³⁰ erg. The altitude of the looptop is 7–10 × 10³ km. The temperature structure of the flare is extremely non-homogeneous, and the highest temperatures are found in the top of the loop. A few minutes after the hard X-ray bursts the configuration of the region changes; some of the flare energy is transferred along a system of larger loops that now become the defining structure for a 2-ribbon flare, which is how the flare develops as seen in Hα. In the late, cooling phase of the flare 15 min after maximum, we find a significant component of the plasma at temperatures between 25 and 30 × 10⁶ K.     

Theoretical model of flares and prominences

A theoretical model of flare which explains observed quantities in H, EUV, soft X-ray and flare-associated solar wind is presented. It is assumed that large mass observed in the soft X-ray flare and the solar wind comes from the chromosphere by the process like evaporation while flare is in progress. From mass and pressure balance in the chromosphere and the corona, the high temperature in the soft X-ray flare is shown to be attained by the larger mass loss to the solar wind compared with the mass remained in the corona, in accord with observations. The total energy of 10³² erg, the electron density of 10^13.5 cm^–3 in H flare, the temperature of the X-ray flare of 10^7.3K and the time to attain maximum H brightness (600 s) are derived consistent with observations. It is shown that the top height of the H flare is located about 1000 km lower than that of the active chromosphere because of evaporation. So-called limb flares are assigned to either post-flare loops, surges or rising prominences.The observed small thickness of the H flare is interpreted by free streaming and/or heat conduction. Applications are suggested to explain the maximum temperature of a coronal condensation and the formation of quiescent prominences.     

Stereoscopic measurements of flares from PHOBOS and GOES

A unique approach to observing the Sun stereoscopically in soft X-rays was afforded by the PHOBOS mission to Mars during 1989. Concurrent measurements of two flares from two widely separated spacecraft allowed us to obtain estimates of each flare's height above the solar surface. The requirement was that the flare had to be over the limb as observed by one spacecraft and on the visible disk as viewed by the other. The first flare occurred on March 4, when the active region was beyond the east limb as observed by GOES (at Earth), but on the disk as viewed by PHOBOS (at Mars). The second flare, on March 15, was on the disk for GOES, but beyond the west limb for PHOBOS. We believe that the same extraordinary active region, 5395, was responsible for both events. Soft X-ray photometers on each spacecraft contained two broad-band channels. The two-channel data were used to computeflare (assumed isothermal) plasma temperatures. The sharply peaked flare on March 4 indicated essentially identical maximum electron temperatures ( 13 Mk) at both spacecraft, confirming that the hottest plasma was indeed concentrated at the highest (unocculted) part of the loop. However, in the case of the long-duration March 15 flare, whose loop was in apparent upwards motion, the partially occulted flare indicated substantially cooler temperatures. This finding suggests that the hot core of this flare may have been below the limb, or that the partially occulted flux originated not from post-flare loops but from an independent, higher X-ray arch. The PHOBOS and GOES X-ray photometers were intercompared in July 1988, soon after the PHOBOS launch, to establish relative calibration parameters.     

On two distinct shocks during the flare of 9 July 1996

Due to the emission of shock-accelerated electrons, broadband radio observations display propagating super Alfvénic shock waves in the low corona ('type II bursts'). We study the 9 July 1996 flare (AR NOAA 7978) focusing on the aspect of shock generation. This event's radio spectrogram shows two different type II bursts in sequence. Radio imaging data (Paris, Meudon Observatory) reveal that both bursts appear at different sites above the H flare. The driver of the first type II burst seems to propagate with twice the speed of the second one. The projected source site of the first type II burst (seen earlier and at higher frequencies) is spatially situated further away from the H flare site than the source of the second type II burst. We try to understand this by comparing with Yohkoh soft X-ray images. The first shock source occurs near the top of high soft X-ray loop structures. Its driver can be a guided fast mode magnetic disturbance. The second type II source appears in-between two high soft X-ray loop systems. This might be a piston-driven disturbance powered by an evaporation front. We get a consistent picture only by assuming a very inhomogeneous Alfvén speed in the active region's atmosphere.     

He I 10830 observations of the 3N/M4.0 flare of 4 September, 1982

Hei 10830 Å spectroheliograms of a major 3N two-ribbon flare occurring in Boulder Region 3885/3886 early on 4 September, 1982 are discussed and compared with H and soft X-ray observations of the event. This flare, observed for more than 60 hr in Hei 10830, was associated with the eruption of a large filament in the active region complex, the formation of coronal holes, a long-duration soft X-ray event, and was the probable source of a earthward coronal mass ejection and the largest geomagnetic storm of this solar cycle. The results of this study suggest the Hei flare is a chromospheric manifestation of the X-ray coronal loop structures associated with flares.Visitor, National Solar Observatory, operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation.     

Soft X-Ray Pre-Flare Emission Studied in Yohkoh-SXT Images

The goal of this study is to improve our knowledge of the spatial relation between pre-flare and flare X-ray sources, to find other connections between the two phenomena (if they exist) and to study the role of pre-flare heating in flare build-up. We selected all flares with available preflare data observed by Yohkoh during the period October 1993–October 1994 and thus created a data base of 32 flares. When studying the spatial relation we discovered that our events can be classified into 3 categories: Co-spatial, Adjacent/Overlapping and Distant according to the spatial separation between the pre-flare and flare source(s) in the same field of view. The 'Co-spatial class of events, of which we found 8 cases, refers to flares that had a visible pre-flare soft X-ray structure with the same size, shape, and orientation as the main flare loops at the flare site at least 5 min before the start of the impulsive phase. We suggest that this is strong evidence that for a significant number of flares the flare structure is active in soft X-rays several minutes or more before the flare begins. However, an analysis of the physical properties of the flare sites, including temperature and intensity variation found no consistent feature distinguishable from other non-flaring active region emission and hence no definite evidence of a special 'pre-flare or 'precursor phase in solar flares.     

Rates of Flaring in Individual Active Regions

Rates of flaring in individual active regions on the Sun during the period 1981–1999 are examined using United States Air Force/Mount Wilson (USAF/MWL) active-region observations together with the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) soft X-ray flare catalog. Of the flares in the catalog above C1 class, 61.5% are identified with an active region. Evidence is presented for obscuration, i.e. that the increase in soft X-ray flux during a large flare decreases the likelihood of detection of soft X-ray events immediately following the large flare. This effect means that many events are missing from the GOES catalog. It is estimated that in the absence of obscuration the number of flares above C1 class would be higher by (75±23)%. A second observational selection effect – an increased tendency for larger flares to be identified with an active region – is also identified. The distributions of numbers of flares produced by individual active regions and of mean flaring rate among active regions are shown to be approximately exponential, although there are excess numbers of active regions with low flare numbers and low flaring rates. A Bayesian procedure is used to analyze the time history of the flaring rate in the individual active regions. A substantial number of active regions appear to exhibit variation in flaring rate during their transit of the solar disk. Examples are shown of regions with and without rate variation, illustrating the different distributions of times between events (waiting-time distributions) that are observed. A piecewise constant Poisson process is found to provide a good model for the observed waiting-time distributions. Finally, applications of analysis of the rate of flaring to understanding the flare mechanism and to flare prediction are discussed.     

Analysis of the August 7, 1972 white light flare: Light curves and correlation with hard X-rays

Cinematic, photometric observations of the 3B flare of August 7, 1972 are described in detail. The time resolution was 2 s; the spatial resolution was 1–2″. Flare continuum emissivity at 4950 Å and at 5900 Å correlated closely in time with the 60–100 keV non-thermal X-ray burst intensity. The observed peak emissivity was 1.5 × 10¹⁰ erg cm^?2 s^?1 and the total flare energy in the 3900–6900 Å range was ～10³⁰ erg. From the close temporal correspondence and from the small distance (3″) separating the layers where the visible emission and the X-rays arose, it is argued that the hard X-ray source must have had the same silhouette as the white light flare and that the emission patches had cross-sections of 3–5″. There was also a correlation between the location of the most intense visible emissions near sunspots and the intensity and polarization of the 9.4 GHz radio emission. The flare appeared to show at least three distinct particle acceleration phases: one, occurring at a stationary source and associated with proton acceleration gave a very bluish continuum and reached peak intensity at ～ 1522 UT. At 1523 UT, a faint wave spread out at 40 km s^?1 from flare center. The spectrum of the wave was nearly flat in the range 4950–5900 Å. Association of the wave with a slow drift of the microwave emission peak to lower frequencies and with a softening of the X-ray spectrum is interpreted to mean that the particle acceleration process weakened while the region of acceleration expanded. The observations are interpreted with the aid of the flare models of Brown to mean that the same beam of non-thermal electrons that was responsible for the hard X-ray bremsstrahlung also caused the heating of the lower chromosphere that produced the white light flare.     

On the reconciliation of simultaneous microwave imaging and hard X-ray observations of a solar flare

We have compared microwave imaging data for a small flare with simultaneous hard X-ray spectral observations. The X-ray data suggest that the power-law index of the energy distribution of the radiating electrons is 5.3 (thick-target) which differs significantly from the estimate ( = 1.4) from a homogeneous optically-thin gyrosynchrotron model which fits the radio observations well. In order to reconcile these results, we explore a number of options. We investigate a double power-law energy spectrum for the energetic electrons in the flare, as assumed by other authors: the power law is steep at low energies and much flatter at the higher energies which produce the bulk of the microwaves. The deduced break energy is about 230 keV if we tentatively ignore the X-ray emission from the radio-emitting electrons: however, the emission of soft photons by the flat tail strongly contributes to the observed hard X-ray range and would flatten the spectrum there. A thin-target model for the X-ray emission is also inconsistent with radio data. An inhomogeneous gyrosynchrotron model with a number of free parameters and containing an electron distribution given by the thick-target X-ray model could be made to fit the radio data.     

On the Solar Origins of Intense Geomagnetic Storms Observed During 6–11 March 1993

Intense geomagnetic storms with DST index -100 nT were recorded on 9 March and 11 March 1993 associated with solar activity on 6 March and 9-10 March, respectively. In this paper, we discuss the characteristic features of the solar origins of the two events that gave rise to coronal and interplanetary disturbances and as a consequence produced strong geomagnetic activity at the Earth. The source of the activity in one case is attributed to a major 3M7.0 flare that occurred on 6 March 1993 and in the other case, to two large filament disruptions on the disk during 9-10 March, 1993. Both these sources were found to be located near changing or varying low-latitude coronal holes. They were also located close to the heliospheric currents sheets. Distinct X-ray activity was observed for both the events as observed by the Yohkoh SXT telescope. The detailed evolution and a comparison of these events on the basis of Yohkoh soft X-ray observations are presented here.     

Solar Spectral Irradiance Variability in November/December 2012: Comparison of Observations by Instruments on the International Space Station and Models

Onboard the International Space Station (ISS), two instruments are observing the solar spectral irradiance (SSI) at wavelengths from 16 to 2900 nm. Although the ISS platform orientation generally precludes pointing at the Sun more than 10?–?14 days per month, in November/December 2012 a continuous period of measurements was obtained by implementing an ISS ‘bridging’ maneuver. This enabled observations to be made of the solar spectral irradiance (SSI) during a complete solar rotation. We present these measurements, which quantify the impact of active regions on SSI, and compare them with data simultaneously gathered from other platforms, and with models of spectral irradiance variability. Our analysis demonstrates that the instruments onboard the ISS have the capability to measure SSI variations consistent with other instruments in space. A comparison among all available SSI measurements during November–December 2012 in absolute units with reconstructions using solar proxies and observed solar activity features is presented and discussed in terms of accuracy.     

EUV emission,filament activation and magnetic fields in a slow-rise flare

The evolution of coronal and chromospheric structures is examined together with magnetograms for the 1B flare of January 19, 1972. Soft X-ray and EUV studies are based on the OSO-7 data. The H filtergrams and magnetograms came from the Sacramento Peak Observatory. Theoretical force-free magnetic field configurations are compared with structures seen in the soft X-ray, EUV and H images. Until the flare, two prominent spots were connected by a continuous dark filament and their overlying coronal structure underwent an expansion at the sunspot separation rate of 0.1 km s^–1. On January 19, the flare occurred as new magnetic fields emerged at 10¹⁹ Mx h^–1 beneath the filament, which untwisted and erupted as the flare began. The pre-flare coronal emissions remained unchanged during the flare except for the temporary addition of a localized enhancement that started 5 min after flare onset. EUV lines normally emitted in the upper transition region displayed a sudden enhancement coinciding in time and location with a bright H point, which is believed to be near the flare trigger or onset point. The EUV flash and the initial H brightening, both of which occurred near the center of the activated filament, were followed by a second EUV enhancement at the end of the filament. The complete disruption of the filament was accompanied by a third EUV enhancement and a rapid rise in the soft X-ray emission spatially coincident with the disappearing filament. From the change of magnetic field inferred from H filtergrams and from force-free field calculations, the energy available for the flare is estimated at approximately 10³¹ erg. Apparently, changes in the overlying coronal magnetic field were not required to provide the flare energy. Rather, it is suggested that the flare actually started in the twisted filament where it was compressed by emerging fields. Clearly, the flare started below the corona, and it appears that it derived its energy from the magnetic fields in or near the filament.NCAR is sponsored by NSF.     

Properties of flares observed in the Mg i b2 line at 5172 Å

Observations of emission in the Mgi b₂ line at 5172 Å are presented for 13 flares. Also discussed are 3 flares which occurred in regions under observation but which showed no Mg emission. The Mg flare kernels resemble white-light flare kernels in their general morphology and location. Comparison of Mg filtergrams with magnetograms indicates that the Mg kernels occur at the feet of magnetic arches across neutral lines. Time-lapse Mg filtergram films indicate photospheric shearing motions near flare sites for several hours before flare onset. We have compared flare Mg emission with microwave and both hard and soft X-ray flare emissions. Examination at the time development of the 1981, July 27 flare shows that the microwave and X-ray bursts may be clearly related to the appearance of successive Mg flare kernels. We have also compared subjective, relative Mg flare importances with other flare emission measurements. For the full sample of flares, Mg importance is significantly correlated with hard and soft X-ray emission peaks, with X-ray ‘hardness’ (ratio of hard to soft peaks) and with the rise slope of soft X-ray bursts. The Mg importance does not correlate with the microwave peaks when the full sample of flares is used, but for the subset showing Mg emission there is significant correlation. No correlation with Hα importance was found. Our results suggest that Mg emission is associated with an impulsive component which may be absent from some flares. The San Fernando Observatory magnesium etalon filter system is described.