The gamma ray spectrometer for the Solar Maximum Mission

The Solar Maximum Mission Gamma Ray Experiment (SMM GRE) utilizes an actively shielded, multicrystal scintillation spectrometer to measure the flux of solar gamma rays. The instrument provides a 476-channel pulse height spectrum (with energy resolution of 7% at 662 keV) every 16.38 s over the energy range 0.3–9 MeV. Higher time resolution (2 s) is available in three windows between 3.5 and 6.5 MeV to study prompt gamma ray line emission at 4.4 and 6.1 MeV. Gamma ray spectral analysis can be extended to 15 MeV on command. Photons in the energy band from 300–350 keV are recorded with a time resolution of 64 ms. A high energy configuration also gives the spectrum of photons in the energy range from 10–100 MeV and the flux of neutrons 20 MeV. Both have a time resolution of 2 s. Auxiliary X-ray detectors will provide spectra with 1-sec time resolution over the energy range of 10–140 keV. The instrument is designed to measure the intensity, energy, and Doppler shift of narrow gamma ray lines as well as the intensity of extremely broadened lines and the photon continuum. The main objective is to use this time and spectral information from both nuclear gamma ray lines and the photon continuum in a direct study of the dynamics of the solar flare/particle acceleration phenomena.     

The Radio-Silent Start of an Intense Solar Gamma-Ray Flare

Radio-silent -ray flares are solar flares that lack any significant emission in the (non-thermal) radio wave band during their impulsive hard X-ray and -ray emission phases. Flares with extremely suppressed long-wavelength spectra have previously been reported by White et al. (1992) and have been discussed in different context by Hudson and Ryan (1995). A striking example of a radio-silent flare was observed by SMM during the onset of the 6 March 1989 energetic -ray flare. We argue that the absence of radio emission at wavelengths longer than microwave wavelengths is an indication of the compactness of the flare rather than that the flare did not exhibit non-thermal properties. Probably the flare site was restricted to altitudes above the photosphere in a newly emerging loop configuration lower than the equivalent altitude corresponding to an emission frequency of 1.4 GHz. This implies the presence of a dense and highly magnetized closed field configuration confining the electron component which causes the impulsive -ray continuum. Reconnection in such a configuration did not lead to open magnetic fields and streamer formation. Acceleration of particles in the and hard X-ray bursts was restricted to closed field lines. Thermal expansion of the loop system may subsequently lead to the generation of radially propagating blast waves in the solar corona which are accompanied by type II solar radio bursts and decimetre emissions. The emission during the onset of the flare was dominated by a continuum originating from electron bremsstrahlung at X-ray and -ray energies with only little evidence for the presence of energetic ions. It is, therefore, concluded that energetic electrons have been primary and not secondary products of the particle acceleration process.     

The influence of chromospheric condensation on Hα line profiles

The influence of the chromospheric condensation on H line profiles for the thermal model of a solar flare has been empirically studied in this paper. The so-called thermal model here means that there is no temperature increase relative to the quiet-Sun chromosphere but with a chromospheric condensation in the lower part of its transition region, which case is assumed to represent the early stage of the impulsive phase. The main results include: when the temperature within the condensation region is assumed to be equal to that in front of it, the influence is to create an additional absorption profile overlapping on the original one; by increasing the condensation strength, the H line profile changes from a little line-center increase to broadened red asymmetry, then to the reversed red asymmetry, and finally to two independent absorption profiles; the thickness of the condensation determines the absorption of the additional profile; descending the transition region has no obvious effect on the basic characteristic of the H line profile except a little increase in the line center. Assuming that the temperature within the condensation is higher than that ahead of the condensation, the calculated H line profiles may be strong enough to be comparable with the observations. This means that if the condensation in the purely thermal model can reach a higher temperature, we may also use only thermal origin to explain a chromospheric flare.Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow, on leave from Purple Mountain Observatory, Nanjing, China.     

Solar flares: High-energy radiation and particles

Due to the Sun's proximity flares can be investigated in the gamma-ray regime and flare generated particles can be measured in space and related to particular events. In this review paper we focus on the problem of particle acceleration by using as observational ingredients: the fluxes and spectra of particles inferred from gamma-ray measurements and observed in interplanetary space, the temporal characteristics of flares at high-energy X- and gamma-rays and the distribution of gamma-ray flares over the solar disc.     

Fermi acceleration in astrophysical jets

We consider the acceleration of energetic particles by Fermi processes (i.e., diffusive shock acceleration, second order Fermi acceleration, and gradual shear acceleration) in relativistic astrophysical jets, with particular attention given to recent progress in the field of viscous shear acceleration. We analyze the associated acceleration timescales and the resulting particle distributions, and discuss the relevance of these processes for the acceleration of charged particles in the jets of AGN, GRBs and microquasars, showing that multi-component powerlaw-type particle distributions are likely to occur.     

The role of high-energy protons and electrons in powering the solar white-light flare emission

The temporal histories of three intense and impulsive gamma-ray flares, for which also white-light emission had been observed, are analyzed in order to test the role of high-energy particles- electrons and protons - in powering the optical continuum. By comparing the light curves at optical wavelengths and at X-ray and gamma-ray energies, we find a good correlation of the main peaks of emission, which confirms previous findings that the continuum emission is most likely associated with the energy loss of energetic particles. The power carried by the greater-than-50 keV nonthermal electrons may be sufficient to balance the optical emission. The power residing in protons or ions with energies greater than 1 MeV depends largely on the spectral shape of the particle distribution. Only if this is similar to a power law, may the energy carried by these high-energy particles be sufficient to balance the white-light flare emission.Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. Partial support for the National Solar Observatory is provided by the USAF under a Memorandum of Understanding with the NSF.     

Cme Or Not: Nuclear Emissions from Major Solar Flares of March 1989 Active Region 5395

In March 1989 a large and complex spot group, active region 5395, rotated across the visible disk of the Sun, thereby creating a number of big solar flares and bright coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Feynman and Hundhausen (1994) investigated the association of both proxies of solar activity. For a classification of the flares they used the H importance and the GOES soft X-ray data. To get a more consistent picture of the importance of the flares selected, we contribute the 2.2 MeV neutron-capture line fluence, recorded by the gamma-ray spectrometer on SMM, as a measure of nucleonic interactions. By considering these data, we confirm the Feyman and Hundhausen conclusion that neither the flare directly causes the CME, nor is directly caused by it.     

Gamma-Ray Line Versus Continuum Emission of Electron-Dominated Episodes During Solar Flares

Electron-dominated episodes or events during solar flares are characterized by a flattening of the electron bremsstrahlung continuum above about 1 MeV. This flattening leads to a dominance of the continuum at MeV energies over nuclear emissions. We analyzed events recorded by the gamma-ray spectrometer on SMM with the aim to determine the nuclear contribution in the energy range between 4 and 8 MeV. We find that for comparable continuum fluences it is less by about an order of magnitude than for other flares. The spectral index of the best-fit power law of the > 1 MeV continuum with a median at –1.84 turns out to be independent of the heliocentric angle of the events, implying that the degree of anisotropy of the radiating particles was low. It is of interest to note that a value of –1.5 seems to be a limit. The spectral index of the continuum between 0.3 and 1 MeV does not differ significantly from that of other flares. Only measurements with detectors sensitive up to at least 10 MeV can, therefore, sort out electron dominated episodes during solar flares.     

A conceptual model of the relationship between channel characteristics and discharge

Regression equations with the form y = f(q), where y is a channel characteristic and q is a discharge of a particular frequency are widely used in fluvial geomorphology. They imply that channel geometry is related to a dominant discharge. For this to be so, the river must be ‘in regime’ i.e. its characteristics must fluctuate about a mean condition which is effectively stationary at the time scale considered. The static regression-dominant discharge approach does not fully describe the relationship between channel characteristics and discharge and an alternative model is proposed with the form y(t) = ∞ h(u)- q(t-u)du. This model states that channel form is a product of the whole series of discharges experienced by the channel. The dominant discharge-static regression approach provides a working approximation of the relationship between channel characteristics and discharge only when temporal variations in q are small or when y is insensitive to variations in q.