Energy storage and deposition in a solar flare

High temporal and spatial resolution solar X-ray pictures of a flare at 1827 UT on 5 September 1973 were taken with the S-056 Aerospace Corporation/Marshall Space Flight Center telescope on the Apollo Telescope Mount. Photographs taken at 9 s intervals allow detailed information to be obtained about the site of the energy release, as well as about the evolution of the flare itself. Observations show that the flare occured in an entire arcade of loops rather than in any single loop. Sequential brightening of different X-ray features indicates that some excitation moved perpendicular to the magnetic field of the arcade at velocities of 180–280 km/s. The most intense X-ray features were located in places where the magnetic field composing the arcade had a small radius of curvature with horizontal field gradients higher than the surrounding region and where the axis of the arcade changed direction. We feel that the arcade geometry strongly influenced the propagation of the triggering disturbance, as well as the storage and site of the subsequent deposition of energy. A magnetosonic wave is suggested as the propagating mechanism triggering instabilities that may have existed in the preflare structure. This event demonstrates that all energy emitted during a flare need not be released immediately nor in the same location, thereby eliminating some problems encountered in many flare theories. Conditions for energy release are discussed.