Studies of solar flares using optical,X-ray and radio data

I have studied a number of flares for which good X-ray and optical data were available. An average lag of 5.5 s between hard X-ray (HXR) start and H start, and HXR peak and Ha peak was found for 41 flares for which determination was possible. Allowing for time constants the time lag is zero. The peak H lasts until 5–6 keV soft X-ray (SXR) peak. The level of H intensity is determined by the SXR flux.Multiple spikes in HXR appear to correspond to different occurrences in the flare development. Flares with HXR always have a fast H rise. Several flares were observed in the 3835 band; such emission appears when the 5.1–6.6 keV flux exceeds 5 × 10⁴ ph cm^-2 s^-1 at the Earth. Smaller flares produce no 3835 emission; we conclude that coronal back conduction cannot produce the bright chromospheric network of that wavelength.The nearly simultaneous growth of H emission at distant points means an agent travelling faster than 5 × 10³ km s^-1 is responsible, presumably electrons.In all cases near the limb an elevated Ha source is seen with the same time duration as HXR flux; it is concluded that this H source is almost always an elevated cloud which is excited by the fast electrons. A rough calculation is given. Another calculation of H emission from compressed coronal material shows it to be inadequate.In several cases homologous flares occur within hours with the same X-ray properties.Radio models fit, more or less, with field strengths on the order of 100G. A number of flares are discussed in detail.     

The Neupert effect: What can it tell us about the impulsive and gradual phases of solar flares?

The Neupert effect is the name given to the correlation observed in many flares between the time-integrated microwave and hard X-ray emissions and the soft X-ray emission light curve. We have used hard X-ray data from the Hard X-Ray Burst Spectrometer (HXRBS) on the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) and soft X-ray data from the detector on GOES to determine what fraction of all events show this correlation and how the correlation changes from the impulsive to the gradual phase. We have found that of 66 HXRBS events observed in 1980 with a peak rate of > 1000 counts s^-1, 58 (80%) showed good correlations with peaks in the GOES time derivative plot corresponding to peaks in the hard X-ray (HXR) plots to within ±20 s. In 20 of these good-correlation cases (30%), the soft X-ray (SXR) time derivative stays high after the HXR emission has decreased suggesting that the later emissions result from energy release in a loop already affected by the initial energy release. In 8 of the 13 flares that showed poor correlation, the SXR time derivative shows no peak corresponding to the initial HXR impulsive peak that has structure on a time scale of 1 s. This suggests that in these events the initial impulsive energy release results primarily in electron acceleration, and that the secondary plasma heating from the accelerated electrons contributes relatively little compared to the more gradual plasma heating already taking place at the same time. The more gradually varying events, commonly referred to as type C flares, tend to show poorer correlation between the SXR time derivative and the HXR time profile. Of 26 GOES X1 or greater flares recorded between 1980 and 1989 with HXR peaks lasting over 10 rain, 13 (50%) showed poor correlation with the gradual HXR peaks either not registering at all in the SXR time derivative plots or showing up as very broad peaks. In one case, on 1981 April 26, the SXR time derivative peak was delayed by 13 rain. Only 17 (65%) of the 26 X-flares had an earlier, impulsive component and of those, 12 (71%) showed good correlation between the impulsive peaks.     

Observations of a Radio-Quiet Solar Preflare

The preflare phase of the flare SOL2011-08-09T03:52 is unique in its long duration, in that it was covered by the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) and the Nobeyama Radioheliograph, and because it showed three well-developed soft X-ray (SXR) peaks. No hard X-rays (HXR) are observed in the preflare phase. Here we report that no associated radio emission at 17 GHz was found either, despite the higher sensitivity of the radio instrument. The ratio between the SXR peaks and the upper limit of the radio peaks is higher by more than one order of magnitude than the ratio in regular flares. The result suggests that the ratio between acceleration and heating in the preflare phase was different than in regular flares. Acceleration to relativistic energies, if any, occurred with lower efficiency.     

Flare fragmentation and type III productivity in the 1980 June 27 flare

We present observations of the solar flare on 1980 June 27, 16:14–16:33 UT, which was observed by a balloon-borne 300 cm² phoswich hard X-ray detector and by the IKARUS radio spectrometer. This flare shows intense hard X-ray (HXR) emission and an extreme productivity of (at least 754) type III bursts at 200–400 MHz. A linear correlation was found between the type III burst rate and the HXR fluence, with a coefficient of 7.6 × 10²⁷ photons keV^–1 per type III burst at 20 keV. The occurrence of 10 type III bursts per second, and also the even higher rate of millisecond spikes, suggests a high degree of fragmentation in the acceleration region. This high quantization of injected beams, assuming the thick-target model, shows up in a linear relationship between hard X-ray fluence and the type III rate, but not as fine structures in the HXR time profile.The generation of a superhot isothermal HXR component in the decay phase of the flare coincides with the fade-out of type III production.Universities Space Research Associates.ST Systems Corporation.     

Flares From the Giant ar 9433 on 24 April 2001

We present H CCD observations of three small-to-medium-size two-ribbon flares observed in the giant AR 9433 on 24 April 2001. Flare observations at other associated wavelengths (e.g., soft X-rays (SXR), hard X-rays (HXR), microwaves (MW)) obtained from archives are also presented and compared. We have tested the Neupert effect for the most energetic third flare. The flare observations are in agreement with the thick-target model. In the case of this flare the HXR emitting electrons appears to be the heating source of SXR and H emissions. The flares are also studied in EUV and UV emissions using TRACE data. We discuss the complexity of the magnetic field using SOHO/MDI magnetograms. The flares are observed to occur in both (f/p) polarity regions in highly sheared magnetic field with emerging flux regions and MMFs.     

Hard X-rays,ejecta, and their associated decimetric radio emission in solar flares

We investigate temporal and spatial correlations in solar flares of hard X-rays (HXR) and decimetric continuum emissions, ejecta, and CMEs. The focus is on three M-class flares, supported by observations from other flares. The main conclusions of our observations are that (1) major hard X-ray flares are often associated with ejecta seen in soft X-rays or EUV. (2) Those ejecta seem to start before HXR or related decimetric radio continua (DCIM emission). (3) DCIM occurring nearly simultaneously with the first HXR peak are located very close to the HXR source. Later in the flare, DCIM generally becomes stronger, drifts to lower frequency and occurs far from the HXR source. Thus the positions at high frequency are generally closer to the HXR source. DCIM emission consists of pulses that drift in frequency. The very high and sometimes positive drift rate suggests spatially extended sources or type III like beams in an inhomogeneous source. Movies of selected flares used in this study can be found on the CD-ROM accompanying this volume. Supplementary material to this paper is available in electronic form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1026194227110     

修正的Neupert效应

Neupert效应的定性描述是耀斑中脉冲分量(硬X射线、微波暴)与渐变分量(软X射线发射)之间存在的因果关系,即耀斑最初的能量是以加速粒子的形式释放,加速的电子在大气传输过程中产生非热硬X射线轫致辐射,并加热大气,耀斑软X射线发射是高能粒子注入大气的响应.根据经典Neupert效应的定量描述,硬X射线发射(表征非热电子注入)结束时软X射线应该立刻达到极大,但以往的观测发现一些耀斑软X射线峰值时间(t2)明显晚于硬X射线结束时间(t1)(τ=t2–t1,τ 0),热与非热辐射之间存在明显的偏离经典Neupert效应的情况.为了研究偏离经典Neupert效应的事件,在2002—2015年间的RHESSI (Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager)和GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites)耀斑列表中,按照在25–50 keV范围内光变较简单、软X射线有对应发射峰等判据,共选择276个耀斑样本,统计了这些耀斑的τ分布、环长d (用双足点源之间的距离来表征)与τ的关系.结果显示:(1)有227个耀斑τ 0,即有约82%的耀斑偏离经典Neupert效应;(2)τ与d之间存在一定的线性相关,即环越长,软X射线极大的时间越延后;(3)似乎存在一个临界距离,当环长小于临界距离时,经典Neupert效应成立.这些结果印证了修正Neupert效应的必要性,并对其物理意义进行了讨论.     

Relationship of great soft X-ray flares with other solar activity phenomena

We present study of relationship of GSXR flares with Hα flares, hard X-ray (HXR) bursts, microwave (MW) bursts at 15.4 GHz, type II/IV radio bursts, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), protons flares (>10 MeV) and ground level enhancement (GLE) events we find that about 85.7%, 93%, 97%, 69%, 60%, 11.1%, 79%, 46%, and 23%% GSXR flares are related/associated with observed Hα flares, HXR bursts, MW bursts at 15.4 GHz, type II radio bursts, type IV radio bursts, GLE events, CMEs, halo CMEs, and proton flares (>10 MeV), respectively. In the paper we have studied the onset time delay of GSXR flares with Hα flares, HXR, and MW bursts which shows the during majority GSXR flares SXR emissions start before the Hα, HXR and MW emissions, respectively while during 15–20% of GSXR flares the SXR emissions start after the onset of Hα, HXT and MW emissions, respectively indicating two types of solar flares. The, onset time interval between SXR emissions and type II radio bursts, type IV radio bursts, GLE events CMEs, halo CMEs, and protons flares are 1–15 min, 1–20 min, 21–30 min, 21–40 min, 21–40 min, and 1–4 hrs, respectively. Following the majority results we are of the view that the present investigations support solar flares models which suggest flare triggering first in the corona and then move to chromospheres/ photosphere to starts emissions in other wavelengths. The result of the present work is largely consistent with “big flare syndrome” proposed by Kahler (1982).     

Extreme-Ultraviolet Flare Loop Emissions in an Eruptive Event

The TRACE/BBSO joint campaign on 27 September 1998 observed an eruptive flare event which lasted for half an hour. The observation covered several ultraviolet (UV) and extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lines and H center and off-band emissions with very high spatial resolution. We find the EUV emissions in different stages of the flare display different characteristics. (1) During the `pre-flare' phase, when the SXR output was weak, we observed simultaneous impulsive HXR peak at 25–100 keV and strong EUV emission. (2) In the impulsive phase, when H, UV and SXR emissions were rising to the maxima, the EUV emission was very weak. (3) During the main phase, when SXR emission was decaying, a peak in the EUV emission was observed which was substantially delayed by 7 min compared to emissions from other wavelengths. Based on our observations, we propose that the `pre-flare' phase in this event was a separate energy release process rather than a mere pre-cursor of the flare, and it is likely that the `pre-flare' EUV emission was due to weak in situ heating of low-lying coronal loops. The mechanism of the EUV emission in the main phase is investigated. It is suggested that the delayed EUV emission may come from cooling of SXR loops.     

Irradiance observations of the 1–8 Å solar soft X-ray flux from goes

The solar 0.5–8 soft X-ray flux was monitored by the NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) from 1974 to the present, providing a continuous record over two solar activity cycles. Attempts have been made to determine a soft X-ray (SXR) background flux by subtracting out solar flares (using the daily lowest flux level). The SXR background flux represents the quiescent SXR flux from heated plasma in active regions, and reflects similar (intermediate-term) variability and periodicities (e.g. 155-day period) as the SXR or hard X-ray (HXR) flare rate, although it is determined in non-flaring time intervals. The SXR background flux peaks late in Solar Cycle 21 (2–3 years after the sunspot maximum), similar to the flare rate measured in SXR, HXR, or gamma rays, possibly due the increasing complexity of coronal magnetic structures in the decay phase of the solar cycle. The SXR background flux appears to be dominated by postflare emission from the dominant active regions, while the contributions from the quiet Sun are appreciable in the Solar Minimum only (A1-level). Comparisons with full-disk integrated images from YOHKOH suggest that the presence of coronal holes can decrease the quietest SXR irradiance level by an additional order of magnitude, but only in the rare case of absence of active regions.Presented at IAU Colloquium No. 143, The Sun as a Variable Star: Solar and Stellar Irradiance Variations, Boulder, CO, June 20–25, 1993     

Radio emission from stellar flares

An overview is given of the observations of stellar radio flares, defined as radio emission which is both variable in time and created by explosive releases of magnetic energy. The main sources of such flares are late-type Main-Sequence stars, classic close binaries, X-ray binaries, and pre-Main-Sequence stars.We summarize the interpretations of these observations in terms of the various incoherent and coherent emission mechanisms. The possible importance of a coherent emission process in electrostatic double layers is pointed out.We briefly indicate the diagnostic importance of radio emission for the flare process in classic and compact stars. In particular we discuss the possible production of radio flares from interactions between an accretion disk and the magnetic field of the central object.     

Survey on Solar X-ray Flares and Associated Coherent Radio Emissions

The radio emission during 201 selected X-ray solar flares was surveyed from 100 MHz to 4 GHz with the Phoenix-2 spectrometer of ETH Zürich. The selection includes all RHESSI flares larger than C5.0 jointly observed from launch until June 30, 2003. Detailed association rates of radio emission during X-ray flares are reported. In the decimeter wavelength range, type III bursts and the genuinely decimetric emissions (pulsations, continua, and narrowband spikes) were found equally frequently. Both occur predominantly in the peak phase of hard X-ray (HXR) emission, but are less in tune with HXRs than the high-frequency continuum exceeding 4 GHz, attributed to gyrosynchrotron radiation. In 10% of the HXR flares, an intense radiation of the above genuine decimetric types followed in the decay phase or later. Classic meter-wave type III bursts are associated in 33% of all HXR flares, but only in 4% are they the exclusive radio emission. Noise storms were the only radio emission in 5% of the HXR flares, some of them with extended duration. Despite the spatial association (same active region), the noise storm variations are found to be only loosely correlated in time with the X-ray flux. In a surprising 17% of the HXR flares, no coherent radio emission was found in the extremely broad band surveyed. The association but loose correlation between HXR and coherent radio emission is interpreted by multiple reconnection sites connected by common field lines.     

High-energy observations of solar flares

Extensive observations of solar flares made in high energy bands during the maximum of the present solar cycle are discussed with a special reference to the results from HINOTORI, and with attention to the relevant flare models. The hard X-ray (HXR) images from HINOTORI showed mostly coronal emission at 20–25 keV suggesting that the HXR is emitted from multiple coronal loops, consistent with the non-thermal electron beam model in a high density corona. The thermal HXR model seems to be inconsistent with some observations. Three types of flares which have been classified from the Hinotori results are described, along with newly discovered hot thermal component of 30–40 million K which contributes thermal HXR emission. A summary is given for the characteristics of the energy release in an impulsive burst; and an empirical model is described, which explains simultaneous energy releases in multiple loops and successive movements of the release site as suggested from the HXR morphology. The discovery of large blue-shifted hot plasma from the soft X-ray line spectrum leads to some quantitative arguments for the evaporating flare model. An electron-heated flare atmosphere appears to explain various observations consistently.Invited paper presented at the IAU Third Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting, held in Kyoto, Japan, between 30 September–6 October, 1984.     

Multi-Wavelength Observations of an Unusual Impulsive Flare Associated with Cme

We present the results of a detailed analysis of multi-wavelength observations of a very impulsive solar flare 1B/M6.7, which occurred on 10 March, 2001 in NOAA AR 9368 (N27 W42). The observations show that the flare is very impulsive with a very hard spectrum in HXR that reveal that non-thermal emission was most dominant. On the other hand, this flare also produced a type II radio burst and coronal mass ejections (CME), which are not general characteristics for impulsive flares. In H we observed bright mass ejecta (BME) followed by dark mass ejecta (DME). Based on the consistency of the onset times and directions of BME and CME, we conclude that these two phenomena are closely associated. It is inferred that the energy build-up took place due to photospheric reconnection between emerging positive parasitic polarity and predominant negative polarity, which resulted as a consequence of flux cancellation. The shear increased to >80 due to further emergence of positive parasitic polarity causing strongly enhanced cancellation of flux. It appears that such enhanced magnetic flux cancellation in a strongly sheared region triggered the impulsive flare.     

Multi-Wavelength Signatures of Magnetic Reconnection of a Flare-Associated Coronal Mass Ejection

The evolution of an X2.7 solar flare, that occurred in a complex β γ δ magnetic configuration region on 3 November 2003 is discussed by utilizing a multi-wavelength data set. The very first signature of pre-flare coronal activity is observed in radio wavelengths as a type III burst that occurred several minutes prior to the flare signature in Hα. This type III burst is followed by the appearance of a loop-top source in hard X-ray (HXR) images obtained from RHESSI. During the main phase of the event, Hα images observed from ARIES solar tower telescope, Nainital, reveal well-defined footpoint (FP) and loop-top (LT) sources. As the flare evolves, the LT source moves upward and the separation between the two FP sources increases. The co-alignment of Hα with HXR images shows spatial correlation between Hα and HXR footpoints, whereas the rising LT source in HXR is always located above the LT source seen in Hα. The evolution of LT and FP sources is consistent with the reconnection models of solar flares. The EUV images at 195 Å taken by SOHO/EIT reveal intense emission on the disk at the flaring region during the impulsive phase. Further, slow-drifting type IV bursts, observed at low coronal heights at two time intervals along the flare period, indicate rising plasmoids or loop systems. The intense type II radio burst at a time in between these type IV bursts, but at a relatively greater height, indicates the onset of CME and its associated coronal shock wave. The study supports the standard CSHKP model of flares, which is consistent with nearly all eruptive flare models. More importantly, the results also contain evidence for breakout reconnection before the flare phase.     

Energetics and Dynamics of an Impulsive Flare on March 10, 2001

We present Hα observations from ARIES (Nainital) of a compact and impulsive solar flare that occurred on March 10, 2001 and which was associated with a CME. We have also analyzed HXT, SXT/Yohkoh observations as well as radio observations from the Nobeyama Radio Observatory to derive the energetics and dynamics of this impulsive flare. We coalign the Hα, SXR, HXR, MW, and magnetogram images within the instrumental spatial-resolution limit. We detect a single HXR source in this flare, which is found spatially associated with one of the Hα bright kernels. The unusual feature of HXR and Hα sources, observed for the first time, is the rotation during the impulsive phase in a clockwise direction. We propose that the rotation may be due to asymmetric progress of the magnetic reconnection site or may be due to the change of the peak point of the electric field. In MW emission we found two sources. The main source is at the main flare site and another is in the southwest direction. It appears that the remote source is formed by the impact of accelerated energetic electrons from the main flare site. From the spatial correlation of multiwavelength images of the different sources, we conclude that this flare has a three-legged structure.     

Evolvement of microwave spike bursts in a solar flare on 2006 December 13

Solar radio spikes are one of the most intriguing spectral types of radio bursts. Their very short lifetimes, small source size and super-high brightness temperature indicate that they should be involved in some strong energy release, particle acceleration and coherent emission processes closely related to solar flares. In particular, for the microwave spike bursts, their source regions are much close to the related flaring source region which may provide the fundamental information of the flaring process. In this work,we identify more than 600 millisecond microwave spikes which recorded by the Solar Broadband Radio Spectrometer in Huairou(SBRS/Huairou) during an X3.4 solar flare on 2006 December 13 and present a statistical analysis about their parametric evolution characteristic. We find that the spikes have nearly the same probability of positive and negative frequency drifting rates not only in the flare rising phase, but also in the peak and decay phases. So we suppose that the microwave spike bursts should be generated by shockaccelerated energetic electrons, just like the terminational shock(TS) wave produced by the reconnection outflows near the loop top. The spike bursts occurred around the peak phase have the highest central frequency and obviously weak emission intensity, which imply that their source region should have the lowest position with higher plasma density due to the weakened magnetic reconnection and the relaxation of TS during the peak phase. The right-handed polarization of the most spike bursts may be due to the TS lying on the top region of some very asymmetrical flare loops.     

Particle acceleration in flares

Particle acceleration is intrinsic to the primary energy release in the impulsive phase of solar flares, and we cannot understand flares without understanding acceleration. New observations in soft and hard X-rays, -rays and coherent radio emissions are presented, suggesting flare fragmentation in time and space. X-ray and radio measurements exhibit at least five different time scales in flares. In addition, some new observations of delayed acceleration signatures are also presented. The theory of acceleration by parallel electric fields is used to model the spectral shape and evolution of hard X-rays. The possibility of the appearance of double layers is further investigated.Report of Team 3, Flares 22 Workshop, Ottawa, May 25–28, 1993.     

The emission and propagation of ∼ 40keV solar flare electrons

Observations of prompt 40 keV solar flare electron events by the IMP series of satellites in the period August, 1966 to December, 1967 are tabulated along with prompt energetic solar proton events in the period 1964–1967. The interrelationship of the various types of energetic particle emission by the sun, including relativistic energy electrons reported by Cline and McDonald (1968) are investigated. Relativistic energy electron emission is found to occur only during proton events. The solar optical, radio and X-ray emission associated with these various energetic particle emissions as well as the propagation characteristics of each particle species are examined in order to study the particle acceleration and emission mechanisms in a solar flare. Evidence is presented for two separate particle acceleration and/or emission mechanisms, one of which produces 40 keV electrons and the other of which produces solar proton and possibly relativistic energy electrons. It is found that solar flares can be divided into three categories depending on their energetic particle emission: (1) small flares with no accompanying energetic phenomena either in particles, radio or X-ray emission; (2) small flares which produce low energy electrons and which are accompanied by type III and microwave radio bursts and energetic ( 20 keV) X-ray bursts; and (3) major solar flare eruptions characterized by energetic solar proton production and type II and IV radio bursts and accompanied by intense microwave and X-ray emission and relativistic energy electrons.     

Study of Flare Energy Release Using Events with Numerous Type III-like Bursts in Microwaves

The analysis of narrowband drifting of type III-like structures in radio bursts dynamic spectra allows one to obtain unique information about the primary energy release mechanisms in solar flares. The SSRT (Siberian Solar Radio Telescope) spatially resolved images and its high spectral and temporal resolution allow for direct determination not only of the source positions but also of the exciter velocities along the flare loop. Practically, such measurements are possible during some special time intervals when SSRT is observing the flare region in two high-order fringes near 5.7?GHz; thus, two 1D brightness distributions are recorded simultaneously at two frequency bands. The analysis of type III-like bursts recorded during the flare 14?April 2002 is presented. Using multiwavelength radio observations recorded by the SSRT, the Huairou Solar Broadband Radio Spectrometer (SBRS), the Nobeyama Radio Polarimeters (NoRP), and the Radio Solar Telescope Network (RSTN), we study an event with series of several tens of drifting microwave pulses with drift rates in the range from ?7 to 13?GHz?s^?1. The sources of the fast-drifting bursts were located near the top of a flare loop in a volume of a few Mm in size. The slow drift of the exciters along the flare loop suggests a high pitch anisotropy of the emitting electrons.