Simultaneous H and K Ca ii,h and k Mg ii,Lα and Lβ H i profiles of the April 15, 1978 solar flare observed with the OSO-8/L.P.S.P. experiment

Solar flare observations have been performed with the multichannel L.P.S.P. experiment on board OSO-8 NASA Satellite. Simultaneous H and K Caii, h and k Mgii, L and L Hi profiles have been recorded on the plage just before the flare, during the flare onset and relaxation phases. The different behaviour of line profiles and intensities during the flare is evidenced and indicates a downward propagation with relaxation times increasing from the upper part to the lower part of the chromosphere related to line formation processes. Using the H observed profile, an upper limit of 8 × 10¹³ cm^-3 is derived for the electron density.     

A reexamination of the Gum nebula

A detailed analysis of interstellar measurements in the direction of the Gum nebula is carried out. The ionized region is shown to have an angular radius of 18° and appears to be bounded by a shell of neutral gas. The mean electron temperature deduced from radio-frequency absorption measurements is found to be 8500K. These parameters suggest that the nebula is the normal and possibly evolved Hii region of Pup and ² Vel, rather than the fossil Strömgren sphere of the Vela supernova as suggested by Brandtet al. (1971).     

X-ray observations of filament eruption in the 1980 May 21 flare

X-ray and H observations of an erupting filament, discussed herein, and other observations of the associated flare on 1980 May 21, suggest that an erupting filament played a major role in the X-ray flare. While Antonucci et al. (1985) analyzed the May 21 flare as one of the best cases of chromospheric evaporation, the possible contribution from X-ray emitting erupting plasma has been ignored. We show that pre-heated plasma existed and may have contributed part of the blue-shifted X-ray emission observed in the Caxix line, which was formerly attributed solely to chromospheric evaporation. Thus it remains an open question - in two-ribbon flares in particular - just how important chromospheric evaporation is in flare dynamics.     

Photographs of the Sun in the XUV-region

X-ray photographs obtained with a zone plate camera on October 3, 1967 in the wavelength band 49.5–52.5 Å have been investigated photometrically.The most intense X-ray emission corresponds with active regions in H and Ca ii. About one quarter of the total solar flux is emitted by the three brightest X-ray sources (A, E and J). X-ray emission from quiet regions is also observed. Limb brightening is found, also at the poles, which indicates a higher electron density at the poles than during solar minimum.The brightest X-ray regions have a very small core of the order of 20. No relation to magnetic field strengths of sunspots has been found. However, a correlation with active prominences cannot be ruled out. X-ray source A is related either to prominence activity or to flare activity. One X-ray region (J) is probably related to flare activity.Assuming an electron temperature of 3 × 10⁶K to 5 × 10⁶K for coronal active regions an emission measure of a few times 10⁴⁹ cm^–3 is derived, which yields an electron density of a few times 10¹⁰ cm^–3.     

The post flare loops observed at the total eclipse of February 16, 1980

A post flare loop system was observed on the west limb at the total solar eclipse of February 16, 1980 in Kenya. Analyzing the monochromatic images and the flash spectra, we obtained the following results: (1) the lower part of the post flare loop system is characterized mainly by distinct cool loops of H and Fe x 6374. Fe x 6374 emitting plasma (T _e = 1.0 × 10⁶ K) is highly concentrated in the loops. The 6374 loops are broader in diameter and located very close to but a little higher than the corresponding H loops. The electron densities of the dense part in H and Fe x 6374 loops are 10¹¹ cm^-3 and 6 × 10⁹cm^-3, respectively; (2) the Ca xv emitting region (3.5 × 10⁶ K) is confined to the upper part of the post flare loops. The electron density of this hot region is estimated as 8 × 10⁹ cm^-3 from the Ca xv line intensity ratio, I(5694)I(5445). These observational results led us to construct an empirical model of the post flare loop system which is consistent with the reconnection model of Kopp and Pneuman (1976).Contributions from the Kwasan and Hida Observatories, University of Kyoto, No. 267.     

Combined study between the chromospheric flare models and hard X-ray observation

By comparison between SMM HXRBS observation and ground observation of H and Caii K lines for the 2B flare on February 3, 1983, we found that there was a temporal correlation between H intensity and hard X-ray flux at the early stage of the impulsive phase while different peaks in the hard X-ray flux curve represented bursts at different locations. When we combined SMM HXRBS observation with chromospheric flare models, we further found that the temporal coincidence between H intensity and hard X-ray flux could be explained quantitatively by the fact that the H flare was indeed due to the heating by non-thermal electron beams responsible for the emission of hard X-rays. Together with the discussion on coronal density based on chromospheric flare models, it was also shown that the source of electrons seemed to be situated around the top of the flare loop and the column density at the top of the chromosphere in semi-empirical flare models could not be taken as the total material above the top of the chromosphere.     

The stationary post-flare arch of May 21/22, 1980

On May 21/22, 1980 the Hard X-Ray Imaging Spectrometer aboard the SMM imaged an extensive coronal structure after the occurrence of a two-ribbon flare on May 21, 20:50 UT. The structure was observed from 22:20 UT on May 21 until its disappearence at 09:00 UT on May 22.At 22:20 UT the brightest pixel in the arch was located at a projected altitude of 95 000 km above the zero line of the longitudinal magnetic field. At 23:02 UT the maximum of brightness shifted to a neighbouring pixel with approximately the same projected altitude. This sudden shift indicates that the X-ray structure consisted of (at least) two separate arches at approximately the same altitude, one of which succeeded the other as the brightest arch in the structure at 23:02 UT.From 23:02 UT onwards the maximum of brightness did not change its position in the HXIS coarse field of view. With a spatial resolution of 32 this places an upper limit of 1.1 km s^-1 on the rise velocity of the arch. Thus, contrary to a similar arch observed on November 6/7, where rise velocities of the order of 10 km s^-1 were measured in the same phase of development, the May 22 arch was a stationary structure at an altitude of 145000 km.The following values were estimated for the physically relevant quantities of the May 21/22 arch at the time of its maximum brightness (23:00 UT): temperature T 6.3 × 10⁶ K, electron density n _e 1.1 × 10⁹ cm^-3, total emitting volume V 5 × 10²⁹ cm³, energy density 2.9 erg cm^–3, total energy contents E 1.4 × 10³⁰ erg, total mass M 9 × 10¹⁴ g.The top of the arch was observed at 145 000 km altitude within 1.5 hr after the flare occurrence. Since it seems unlikely that the structure already existed prior to the flare at 20:50 UT, the arch must have risen to its stationary position with an average velocity exceeding 17 km s^–1 (possibly much faster). We speculate that the arch was formed very fast at the flare onset, when (part of) the active region loop system was elevated within minutes to the observed altitude.     

The impulsive and gradual phases of a solar limb flare as observed from the solar maximum mission satellite

Simultaneous observations of a solar limb flare in the X-ray and ultraviolet regions of the spectrum are presented. Temporal and spectral X-ray observations were obtained for the 25–300 keV range while temporal, spectral, and spatial X-ray observations were obtained for the 30–0.3 keV range. The ultraviolet observations were images with a 10 spatial resolution in the lines of O v (T _e 2.5 × 10⁵ K) and Fe xxi (T _e 1.1 × 10⁷ K). The hard X-ray and O v data indicate that the impulsive phase began in the photosphere or chromosphere and continued for several minutes as material was ejected into the corona. Impulsive excitation was observed up to 30 000 km above the solar surface at specific points in the flare loop. The Fe xxi observations indicate a preheating before the impulsive phase and showed the formation of hot post-flare loops. This later formation was confirmed by soft X-ray observations. These observations provide limitations for current flare models and will provide the data needed for initial conditions in modeling the concurrent coronal transient.     

Diagnostic application of highly ionized iron lines in the XUV spectrum of a solar flare

Recent atomic data have been used to analyze a solar flare spectrum obtained with the Goddard Space Flight Center's grating spectrometer on the OSO-5 satellite. There exist in the wavelength region 90–200 Å strong lines from each of the ions Fe xviii-Fe xxiv. The Fe xxi lines can be used as an electron density diagnostic for the 10⁷ K plasma. From our analysis of a particular flare, we find a steep positive slope in the emission measure between 10^6.5 and 10^7.2 K and an electron density of 4 × 10¹¹ cm^–3 at 10⁷ K. We emphasise the need for high spectral and spatial resolution observations of solar flares in this wavelength region, which has to date been largely neglected.     

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.     

Electron precipitation and mass motion in the 1991 June 9 white-light flare

We use H line profiles as a diagnostic of mass motion and nonthermal electron precipitation in the white-light flare (WLF) of 1991 June 9 01:34 UT. We find only weak downflow velocities (10 km s^–1) at the site of white-light emission, and comparable velocities elsewhere.We also find that electron precipitation is strongest at the WLF site. We conclude that continuum emission in this flare was probably caused by nonthermal electrons and not by dynamical energy transport via a chromospheric condensation.     

Solar flare X-ray spectra

Results are presented of an investigation of solar flare X-ray spectra in the region 1.70–1.95 Å, obtained aboard the Intercosmos-4 satellite during the maximum of solar activity (October–November, 1970). With the use of 6 high resolution spectra in the region 1.85–1.87 Å the identification of lines due to 18 transitions of 2p 1s type, consisting of the resonance, intercombination and forbidden Fe xxv ion lines and the satellite Fe xxiv lines has been performed. With the use of the recent laboratory data the averaged wavelengths of the lines were obtained confirming the theoretically calculated ones with an accuracy about ± 0.0004 Å. A variable Doppler shift of the Fe xxv resonance lines was observed for the flare of November 16, 1970, which points to hot plasma motions with velocities up to 400 km s^-1.     

Magnetic fields,bremsstrahlung and synchrotron emission in the flare of 24 October 1969

An impulsive flare October 24, 1969 produced two bursts with virtually identical time profiles of 8800 MHz emission and X-rays above 48 keV. The two spikes of hard X-rays correspond in time to the times of sharp brightening and expansion in the H flare. The first burst was not observed at frequencies below 3000 MHz. This cut off is ascribed to plasma cutoff above the low-lying flare.A model of the flare based on H observations at Big Bear shows that the density of electrons with energy above 10 keV is 5 × 10⁷ if the field density is 10¹¹. The observed radio flux would be produced by this electron distribution with the observed field of 200 G. The H emission accompanying the hard electron acceleration is presumed due to excitation of the field atoms by the hard electrons.     

Coronal survey in X-rays of O vii and Ne ix

We report some results of a rocket experiment flown on 29 April, 1971. A survey of the solar corona was carried out with a pair of collimated Bragg spectrometers to study the resonance, intersystem and forbidden line emission from the helium-like ions O vii (22 Å) and Ne ix (13 Å). In the direction of dispersion the collimator provided a field of view of 1.7. Also, the continuum radiation near 3 Å was monitored by a collimated proportional counter within a view angle of 4.2. The observed X-ray emission came from the general corona, seven plage regions, and one dynamic feature- the late stage of a small flare. From the intensity of the O vii and Ne ix resonance lines the electron temperature and emission measure of the individual emitting regions are derived on the basis of two models, one (a) in which the region is assumed to be isothermal and another (b) in which the emission measure decreases exponentially with increasing temperature. The latter model, which is the most adequate of the two, yields for the electron temperature of the time-varying feature 2–3 × 10⁶ K, for the other active regions 1.5–2.5 × 10⁶ K, and for the general corona 1.3–1.7 × 10⁶ K. The Ne ix emitting regions are about 1.5 times as hot as the O vii regions. The emission measure ranges from 0.4–2.3 × 10⁴⁸ cm^–3 for all active regions and is about 2 × 10⁴⁹ cm^–3 for one hemisphere of the general corona above 10⁶ K. From an analysis of the ratio, R, of the forbidden and intersystem lines of O vii we conclude that none of the regions producing these lines at the time of the rocket flight had electron densities exceeding about 3 × 10⁹ cm^–3. Our data demonstrate a dependence of R upon temperature in agreement with the theory of Blumenthal et al. (1971). The wavelengths for the intersystem, the 1s ²2s ² S ^e–1s2p2s ² P ⁰ satellite, and the forbidden transition show in the case of Ne ix improved agreement with predictions. The observed strength of the satellite lines for both O vii and Ne ix agrees with the predictions of Gabriel's (1972) theory, which attributes their formation to dielectronic recombination.We are saddened to report the death of A. J. Meyerott on 13 November, 1971.     

Lyman continuum observations of solar flares

A study is made of Lyman continuum observations of solar flares, using data obtained by the Harvard College Observatory EUV spectroheliometer on the Apollo Telescope Mount. We find that there are two main types of flare regions: an overall mean flare coincident with the H flare region, and transient Lyman continuum kernels which can be identified with the H and X-ray kernels observed by other authors. It is found that the ground level hydrogen population in flares is closer to LTE than in the quiet Sun and active regions, and that the level of Lyman continuum formation is lowered in the atmosphere from a mass column density m 5/sx 10^–6 g cm^–2 in the quiet Sun to m 3/sx 10^–4 g cm^–2 in the mean flare, and to m 10^–3g cm^–2 in kernels. From these results we derive the amount of chromospheric material evaporated into the high temperature region, which is found to be - 10¹⁵g, in agreement with observations of X-ray emission measures. A comparison is made between kernel observations and the theoretical predictions made by model heating calculations, available in the literature; significant discrepancies are found between observation and current particle-heating models.     

Solar X-ray spectra observed from the ‘Intercosmos-4’ satellite and the ‘Vertical-2’ rocket

Results are given of the detailed analysis of fourteen Fe xxv-xxiii lines ( = 1.850–1.870 Å) in the spectra of a solar flare on 16 Nov. 1970. The spectra were obtained with a resolution of about 4 × 10^–4 Å, which revealed lines not previously observed and allowed the measurement of line profiles. The measured values of the wavelengths and emission fluxes are presented and compared with theoretical calculations. The analysis of the contour of the Fe xxv line ( = 1.850 Å) leads to the conclusion that there is unidirectional macroscopic gas motion in the flare region with the velocity (projection on the line of sight) ± 90 km s^–1.Measurements of the 8.42 Å Mg xii and 9.16 Å Mg xi lines in the absence of solar flares indicate prolonged existence of active regions on the solar disk with T _e = 4–6 × 10⁶K and emission measure ME 10⁴⁸ cm^–3. The profile of the Mg xii line indicates a macroscopic ion motion with a velocity up to 100 km s^–1.     

Chromospheric downflow velocities as a diagnostic in solar flares

We explore the dynamics of chromospheric condensations driven by evaporation during the impulsive phase of solar flares. Specifically, we find that the maximum chromospheric downflow speed obeys the approximate relation _d = 0.4 (F/ _ch )^1/3, where F is that part of the flare energy flux driving chromospheric evaporation, and _ch is the mass density in the preflare chromosphere just below the preflare transition region. This implies that chromospheric downflows as measured by H asymmetries may be a powerful probe of flare energetics.     

A solar flare in the Fe I 5324 line on 24 June, 1993

A solar flare with both H and Fe i 5324 emissions was observed in AR 7529 (S13, E65) on 24 June, 1993 at the Bejing Astronomical Observatory. Our calculations show that the Fe i 5324 emission region of the flare was located in the low photosphere at a height of about 180 km above ₅₀₀₀ = 1, which is lower than many previous studies of white-light flares. To study a Fe i 5324 flare, which represents a kind of extreme case in solar flares, would be useful for clarifying some arguments in the researches of white-light flares as well as for understanding the mechanism of solar flares.The synthetic analyses from vairous features of the flare lead to the following possible exciting mechanism of the Fe i 5324 flare: owing to the flow of energetic electrons from the corona and probably also the thermal conduction downward into the lower atmosphere, a condensation with a temperature higher than that below it was formed near the transition region. Then the low photosphere was heated through backwarming. The Fe i 5324 flare occurred as an indicator of the excitation in the low photosphere.     

A search for high energy gamma-rays from solar active regions

The Elliot model for solar flares predicts weak -ray emission from the flare region prior to large flares. A search has been made for such -radiation of energy > 50 MeV. The experiment was performed using balloon-borne detectors flown from an equatorial station during the 1967/1968 solar maximum. A number of small flares were observed, but no associated -rays were detected. A limit of 2.3 × 10⁴ photons/cm² s was placed on the emission from an importance 1N flare. The general lack of major solar activity during the period of the balloon flights precluded a test for the Elliot model.     

The formation of flare loops by magnetic reconnection and chromospheric ablation

Slow-mode shocks produced by reconnection in the corona can provide the thermal energy necessary to sustain flare loops for many hours. These slow shocks have a complex structure because strong thermal conduction along field lines dissociates the shocks into conduction fronts and isothermal subshocks. Heat conducted along field lines mapping from the subshocks to the chromosphere ablates chromospheric plasma and thereby creates the hot flare loops and associated flare ribbons. Here we combine a non-coplanar compressible reconnection theory with simple scaling arguments for ablation and radiative cooling, and predict average properties of hot and cool flare loops as a function of the coronal vector magnetic field. For a coronal field strength of 100 G the temperature of the hot flare loops decreases from 1.2 × 10⁷ K to 4.0 × 10⁶ K as the component of the coronal magnetic field perpendicular to the plane of the loops increases from 0% to 86% of the total field. When the perpendicular component exceeds 86% of the total field or when the altitude of the reconnection site exceeds 10⁶km, flare loops no longer occur. Shock enhanced radiative cooling triggers the formation of cool H flare loops with predicted densities of 10¹³ cm^–3, and a small gap of 10³ km is predicted to exist between the footpoints of the cool flare loops and the inner edges of the flare ribbons.