Observation of the flare of 12 June 1982 by Norikura coronagraph and Hinotori

Flare activity was observed near the limb with two coronagraphs at the Norikura Solar Observatory and the Soft X-ray Crystal Spectrometer (SOX) aboard HINOTORI. A prominence activation occurred and then Hα brightenings were seen on the disk near the prominence. The prominence became very bright and its electron density increased to 10^12.8 cm^?3 in 1/2 hour. Loop prominence systems appeared above the Hα brightenings about half an hour after the onset of the flare, and were observed in the coronal lines CaXV 5694Å, FeXIV 5303Å, and FeX 6374Å. Shifted and asymmetric profiles of the emission line of 5303Å were sometimes observed, and turbulent phenomena occurred even in the thermal phase. The energy release site of the flare at the onset would be lower than 20 000 km above the solar limb.     

A Yohkoh search for “black-light flares”

Calculations which predict that a phenomenon analogous to stellar negative pre-flares could also exist on the Sun were published by Hénouxet al. (1990), and Aboudarhamet al., (1990), who showed that at the beginning of a solar white-light flare (WLF) event an electron beam can cause a transient darkening before the WLF emission starts, under certain conditions. They named this event a black light flare (BLF). Such a BLF event should appear as diffuse dark patches lasting for about 20 seconds preceding the WLF emission, which would coincide with intense and impulsive hard X-ray bursts. The BLF location would be at (or in the vicinity of) the forthcoming bright patches. Their predicted contrast depends on the position of the flare on the solar disc and on the wavelength band of the observation.TheYohkoh satellite provided white-light data from the aspect camera of the SXT instrument (Tsunetaet al., 1991), at 431 nm and with a typical image interval of 10–12 s. We have studied nine white-light flares observed with this instrument, with X-ray class larger than M6. We have found a few interesting episodes, but no unambiguous example of the predicted BLF event. This study, although the best survey to date, was not ideal from the observational point of view. We therefore encourage further searches. Successful observations of this phenomenon on the Sun would greatly strengthen our knowledge of the lower solar atmosphere and its effects on solar luminosity variations.     

The Filament Disappearance of 7 May 1992 (the Ebi)

The 7 May 1992 filament disappearance in the low corona is analyzed. The cool and hot components of this event are studied, using H, soft X-ray and radio data. We first show the general effect of the disparition brusque (DB) on the life of the filament, which was a quiescent filament in the vicinity of an active region, and then give the history of the development of the 7 May event. The main stages of the event are: (i) the formation of hot arches spanning the cool filament; (ii) rise of the filament, with plasma ejection into the corona, in which we note some spreading of loops from the main body, with two distinct rising velocity phases of the H filament; (iii) formation of X-ray arches below the filament, the foot points of the arcades being two-ribbon H flare patches. The dynamics of H and X-rays features are given.     

Solar meridional motions derived from sunspot observations

Sunspot drawings obtained at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan during the years 1954–1986 were used to determine meridional motions of the Sun. A meridional flow of a few ms^–1 was found, which is equatorward in the latitude range from -20° to +15° and is poleward at higher latitudes in both hemispheres. A northward flow of 0.01° day^–1 or 1.4 ms^–1 at mid-latitudes (between 10° and 20°) was also detected. From our limited data-set of three solar cycles, an indication of solar-cycle dependence of meridional motions was found.     

Unusual spectral absorption observed in the 16 August 1989 limb flare

A relative complete set of He I 10830 Å profiles and their coincident slit-jaw Hα images of the large limb flare (2N/X20) of 16 August 1989 were observed by the solar spectrograph at Purple Mountain Observatory. In addition to the unusually broadened spectral profiles observed in the impulsive phase, more than half of the observed He I 10830 Å profiles are characterized by central reversals, which were detected not only in the impulsive phase but also in the late decaying phase. The central-reversed profiles may exist at different heights, ranging from the solar limb to (3–4) × 10⁴ km above. The absorption varies with time and position, with a typical lifetime and size of several minutes and 5–6 arc sec, respectively. Depths of the absorption profiles also change clearly. The absorptions are usually deeper at the loop footpoint near the solar limb and shallower at loop-top. However, the most unusual feature is that all the line-center wavelengths of them show no shift relative to that of the quiet chromosphere near the limb, implying the apparent velocities are zero while the associated emission profiles have different apparent velocities. Theoretical simulations demonstrate that the Doppler widths of the absorptions are in the range of (0.35–0.5)Å and increase with height, and the source functions are (0.11–0.3) times the disk center intensity. However, the absorptions have a relative large range of optical thickness (0.1–1.3) in the I ₃ component of the He I 10830 Å triplet. We have not observed such absorption in other limb flares, including the SB/X2.9 flare of 17 August 1989 that occurred in the same active region as the studied one (NOAA 5629). Our studies show that the absorption could not result from he scattering by the telluric atmosphere or from normal chromospheric absorption. This unique phenomenon may be related to extra intense X-ray flux and caused by diffuse and non uniform materials dissociated from the flare instead of self-absorption of the flare.     

A continuous spectrum of a white-light flare

White-light continuum was observed at the Norikura Solar Observatory in a 2B flare of 10 September 1974 in the spectral region between 3600 Å and 4000 Å. The duration of continuum emission was 8–12 min. The continuum shows a Balmer free-bound component, but the main contribution to the continuum between 3646 Å and 4000 Å is H^– emission. The white-light continuum, therefore, is thought to be of photospheric origin. The energy loss in the continuum is 10²⁷ erg s^–1.     

1974年10月11日白光耀斑的光谱分析

１９７４年１０月１１日耀斑的光谱分析表明，连续发射和微波爆发几乎同时达到极大。在连续辐射极大时刻出现了高项巴耳末发射线和微弱的巴耳末跳跃，所有这些说明这个耀斑是Ｉ型白光耀斑。我们发现，在这个耀斑连续发射的极大时刻，ＣａＩＩＫ线的Ｋ１处强度大大增强，约达到连续辐射强度的一半，对应的辐射温度达到５７１６Ｋ。这个反常增强的持续时间小于４分钟。现有的半经验模型似不能给出这样的结果。色球压缩区也不能给出解释     

Coronal Loops Above a Sunspot Region

By analysing the data of Yohkoh soft X-ray images, vector magnetograms and 2D spectral observations, coronal loops above a large sunspot on 16–19 May 1994 have been studied. It is shown that the loops follow generally the alignment of concentrated magnetic flux. The results indicate that the soft X-ray emission is low just above the sunspot, while some loops connecting regions with opposite magnetic polarities show strong soft X-ray emission. Especially, the part of the loops near the weaker magnetic field region tends to be brighter than the one near the stronger magnetic field. The temperature around the top of the loops is typically 3 × 10⁶ K, which is higher than that at the legs of the loops by a factor of 1.5–2.0. The density near the top of the loops is about 5 x 10⁹ cm^-3, which is higher than that of the leg parts of the loops. These loops represent probably the sites where strong magnetic flux and/or current are concentrated.     

Caii K line asymmetries in two well-observed solar flares of October 18, 1990

Two-dimensional evolutions of two flares of October 18, 1990 have been well observed in the Caii K line with a CCD camera at Norikura station of National Astronomical Observatory in Japan. There are two common characteristics for the flares: 3 - 5 min before the impulsive phase, the heating already begins at the footpoints of the flares, but no asymmetry in line emission has been detected. After the onset of the impulsive phase, Caii K line emission at the footpoints shows strong red asymmetry, with the maximum asymmetry occurring at the same time as the peak of the radio bursts. The maximum downward velocity is about 30 50 km s^–1. For flare 1, blue and red asymmetries were observed in two sides of the footpoint area. They developed and attained a maximum nearly at the same time and the inferred Doppler velocities are comparable (30 40 km s^–1). This implies that two mass jets started from a small region and ejected along a loop but in opposite directions with roughly equivalent momentum. A possible mechanism has been discussed.     

Review of optical observations of solar flares

The recent observations of solar flares, made with a Lyot filter and a spectrograph in H, HeD3, higher Balmer lines, metallic lines, and continuum, are discussed. It is important to study the energy supply of non thermal particle/ conduction/ irradiation into the lower atmosphere from the optical observations with high temporal and spatial resolutions. Simultaneous observations from ground-based observatories and instruments on board satellites are necessary for understanding flare plasma of low and high energy.