Repeated Flaring from Loop–Loop Interaction

A series of solar flares was observed near the same location in NOAA active region 8996 on 18–20 May 2000. A detailed analysis of one of these flares is presented where the emitting structures in soft and hard X-rays, EUV, H, and radio at centimeter wavelengths are compared. Hard X-rays and radio emission were observed at two separate loop footpoints, while soft X-rays and EUV emission were observed mainly above the nearby positive polarity region. The flare was confined although the observed type III bursts at the time of the flare maximum indicate that some field lines were open to the corona. No flux emergence was evident but moving magnetic features were observed around the sunspot region and within the positive polarity (plage) region. We suggest that the flaring was due to loop–loop interactions over the positive polarity region, where accelerated electrons gained access to the two separate loop systems. The repeated radio flaring at the footpoint of one loop was visible because of the strong magnetic fields near the large sunspot region while at the footpoint of the other loop the electrons could precipitate and emit in hard X-rays. The simultaneous emission and fluctuations in radio and X-rays – in two different loop ends – further support the idea of a single acceleration site at the loop intersection.     

Oscillations Above Sunspots

The 3-min oscillations in the sunspot atmosphere are discussed, based on joint observing with the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer – TRACE and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory – SOHO. We find that the oscillation amplitude above the umbra increases with increasing temperature, reaches a maximum for emission lines formed close to 1–2× 10⁵ K, and decreases for higher temperatures. Oscillations observed with a high signal-to-noise ratio show deviations from pure linear oscillations. The results do not support the sunspot filter theory, based on the idea of a chromospheric resonator. Whereas the filter theory predicts several resonant peaks in the power spectra, equally spaced 1 mHz in frequency, the observed power spectra show one dominating peak, close to 6 mHz. Spectral observations show that the transition region lines contribute less than 13 percent to the TRACE 171 Å channel intensity above the umbra. The 3-min oscillations fill the sunspot umbra in the transition region. In the corona the oscillations are concentrated to smaller regions that appear to coincide with the endpoints of sunspot coronal loops, suggesting that wave propagation along the magnetic field makes it possible for the oscillations to reach the corona.     

Microwave,ultraviolet, and soft X-Ray observations of hale region 16898

Hale region 16898 was observed by the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope at 6 cm and by the Ultraviolet Spectrometer and Polarimeter and the X-Ray Spectrometer on the Solar Maximum Mission satellite. Optical pictures of the same active region were taken at Sacramento Peak, Big Bear, and Meudon Observatories. The radio emission mechanisms are identified by comparing radio data with ultraviolet and soft X-ray data. The height of the radio sources and the magnetic field strength at that height are deduced. A radio source above a large sunspot shows a crescent shaped depression of circular polarization and a high brightness temperature. The emission mechanism is identified as gyroresonance at the second and the third harmonic layers and it is found that the second harmonic layer, where the magnetic field strength is 900 G, must be in the corona. An extended loop-like source connecting the leading and the following part of the active region as well as the sources associated with small spots are mainly due to thermal free-free emission by hot and dense plasma which is also observed in ultraviolet and soft X-ray radiation. The calculated radio brightness temperature, using the physical parameters deduced from the ultraviolet and soft X-ray line intensities, agrees with the observed brightness temperature. The height of the low brightness temperature sources above the small spots is 6000 ± 3000 km and that above the large spot is less than 3000 km: the source above the large spot does not show any shift relative to the sunspot due to the projection effect. Very strong radio emission was found which was associated with the merging of a group of small spots into the large sunspot. In the same day, warm ( 10⁶ K) and dense matter was present above the large spot. Evidence for nonthermal emission is presented.     

Multiple moving magnetic structures in the solar corona

We report the study of moving magnetic structures inferred from the observations of a moving type IV event with multiple sources. The ejection contains at least two moving radio emitting loops with different relative inclinations. The radio loops are located above multiple H flare loops in an active region near the limb. We investigate the relationship between the two systems of loops. The spatial, temporal and geometrical associations between the radio emission and near surface activities suggest a scenario similar to coronal mass ejection (CME) events, although no CME observations exist for the present event. From the observed characteristics, we find that the radio emission can be interpreted as Razin suppressed optically thin gyrosynchrotron emission from nonthermal particles of energy 100, keV and density 10²–10⁵ cm^–3 in a magnetic field 2 G.     

The cyclical variation of energy flux and photospheric magnetic field strength from coronal holes

We measured the average soft X-ray emission from coronal holes observed on images obtained during AS & E rocket flights from 1974 to 1981. The variation of this emission over the solar cycle was then compared with photospheric magnetic flux measurements within coronal holes over the same period. We found that coronal hole soft X-ray emission could be detected and that this emission appeared to increase with the rise of the sunspot cycle from activity minimum to maximum. Our quantitative results confirmed previous suggestions that the coronal brightness contrast between holes and large-scale structure decreased during this period of the cycle. Gas pressures at the hole base were estimated for assumed temperatures and found to vary from about 0.03 dyne cm^–2 in 1974 to 0.35 dyne cm^–2 in 1981. The increase in coronal hole X-ray emission was accompanied by a similar trend in the surface magnetic flux of near-equatorial holes between 1975 and 1980 (Harvey et al., 1982).     

Culgoora radio and skylab euv observations of emerging magnetic flux in the lower corona

Detailed comparisons of Culgoora 160 MHz radioheliograms of solar noise storms and Skylab EUV spectroheliograms of coronal loop structures are presented. It is concluded that: (1) there is a close association between changes in large-scale magnetic fields in the corona and the onset or cessation of noise storms; (2) these coronal changes result from the emergence of new magnetic flux at the photospheric level; (3) although new magnetic flux at the photospheric level is often accompanied by an increase in flare activity the latter is not directly responsible for noise storm activity; rather the new magnetic flux diffuses slowly outwards through the corona at rates 1–2 km s^–1 and produces noise storms at 160 MHz 1–2 days later; (4) the coronal density above or in large-scale EUV loop systems is sufficiently dense to account for noise storm emission at the fundamental plasma frequency; (5) the scatter in noise storm positions can be accounted for by the appearance and disappearance of individual loops in a system.     

Radio and soft X-ray evidence for dense non-potential magnetic flux tubes in the solar corona

The source positions of solar radio bursts of spectral types I, III(U) and III(J) and V observed by the Culgoora radioheliograph are found to lie almost radially above soft X-ray loops on pictures taken by the S-056 telescope aboard Skylab. The radio source positions and the X-ray loops occur near magnetic loops on computed potential field maps. However, the magnetic induction required to explain the radio observations is much greater than the computed potential field value at that height. Dense current-carrying magnetic flux tubes emanating from active regions on the Sun and extending to 1.5R above the photosphere provide a satisfactory model for the radio bursts.     

Short-Term Periodicities in Solar Indices

The purpose of the present communication is to identify the short-term (few tens of months) periodicities of several solar indices (sunspot number, Caii area and K index, Lyman , 2800 MHz radio emission, coronal green-line index, solar magnetic field). The procedure used was: from the 3-month running means (3m) the 37-month running means (37m) were subtracted, and the factor (3m – 37m) was examined for several parameters. For solar indices, considerable fluctuations were seen during the ± 4 years around sunspot maxima of cycles 18–23, and virtually no fluctuations were seen in the ± 2 years around sunspot minima. The spacings between successive peaks were irregular but common for various solar indices. Assuming that there are stationary periodicities, a spectral analysis was carried out which indicated periodicities of months: 5.1–5.7, 6.2–7.0, 7.6–7.9, 8.9–9.6, 10.4–12.0, 12.8–13.4, 14.5–17.5, 22–25, 28 (QBO), 31–36 (QBO), 41–47 (QTO). The periodicities of 1.3 year (15.6 months) and 1.7 years (20.4 months) often mentioned in the literature were seen neither often nor prominently. Other periodicities occurred more often and more prominently. For the open magnetic flux estimated by Wang, Lean, and Sheeley (2000) and Wang and Sheeley (2002), it was noticed that the variations were radically different at different solar latitudes. The open flux for < 45 solar latitudes had variations very similar (parallel) to the sunspot cycle, while open flux for > 45 solar latitudes had variations anti-parallel to the sunspot cycle. The open fluxes, interplanetary magnetic field and cosmic rays, all showed periodicities similar to those of solar indices. Many peaks (but not all) matched, indicating that the open flux for < 45 solar latitudes was at least partially an adequate carrier of the solar characteristics to the interplanetary space and thence for galactic cosmic ray modulation.     

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     

Magnetic Activity and the Enhanced 5303 Å Emission in Solar Active Regions

Analysis of the intensity maps of Fexiv emission at =5303 Å obtained from the observations of ground-based coronagraphs during the sunspot minimum period 1985 and 1986 shows the persistent presence of localized strong emissions. Typical emission intensities associated with the active regions were found to be about 5 to 20 times stronger than the unperturbed corona. Using Stanford magnetograms we identified strong magnetic field gradients in those active regions, with a minimum threshold gradient of 3 × 10^–5 G km^–1, associated with such strong emissions. From our sample we infer that the flux emergence within or in the vicinity of a persistent active region seems to play an important role in the activity associated with the enhancement in 5303 Å emission.     

The measurement of magnetic fields in the solar atmosphere above sunspots using gyroresonance emission

An analysis of the local sources (LS) structure of the S-component of solar radio emission confirms the presence of a core component which is characterized by strong circular polarization and a steep growing spectrum at shorter centimeter wavelengths. These details coincide in position with the sunspots' umbra and their height above the photosphere does not generally exceed about 2000 km. Gyroresonance emission of thermal electrons of the corona is generally accepted as being responsible for this type of emission. The spectral and polarization observations of LS made with RATAN-600 using high resolution in the wavelength range 2.0–4.0 cm, allow us to measure the maximum magnetic fields of the corresponding sunspots at the height of the chromosphere-corona transition region (CCTR). This method is based on determining the short wavelength limit of gyroresonance emission of the LS and relating it to the third harmonic of gyrofrequency.An analysis of a large number of sunspots and their LS (core component) has shown a good correlation between radio magnetic fields near the CCTR and optical photospheric ones. The magnetic field in CCTR above a sunspot is found only 10 to 20% lower than in the photosphere. The resulting gradient of the field strength is not less than 0.25 G km^–1. This result seems to contradict the lower values of magnetic fields generally found above sunspots using the chromospheric H line. Some possible ways of overcoming this difficulty are proposed.     

Spatial distribution of XUV emission and density in a loop prominence

We have studied the spatial distribution of XUV emission in the 14 August, 1973 loop prominence observed with the NRL spectroheliograph on Skylab. The loop prominence consists of two large loops and is observed in lines from ions with temperatures ranging from 5 × 10⁴ K to 3 × 10⁶ K. The loops seen in low temperature (10⁶K) lines such as from He ii, Ne vii, Mg vii, Mg viii, and Si viii are systematically displaced from loops seen in higher temperature lines such as from Si xii, Fe xv, and Fe xvi. The cross section of the loop, particularly in cooler lines is nearly constant along the loop. For hotter loops in Si xii, Fe xv, and Fe xvi, however, emission at the top of the loop is more intense and extended than that near the footpoints, which makes the loops appear wider at the top.There is no evidence that the 14 August loop prominence consists of a cooler core surrounded by a hot sheath as in some active region and sunspot loops reported by Foukal (1975, 1976). Rather, the observed spatial displacement between cooler and hotter loops suggest that the 14 August loop prominence is composed of many magnetic flux tubes, each with its own temperature.Ball Corporation. Now with NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center.     

A two-component model of impulsive microwave burst emission consistent with soft and hard X-rays

A two-component (core-halo) emission model has been applied reconciling hard and soft X-ray burst emissions with the microwave burst radiation. The core region is represented by a nonthermal energy distribution (Maxwellian+power law tail) and assumed to be surrounded by a thermal halo. Parameters characterizing the energy distribution and emission measures have been derived numerically from soft and hard X-ray measurements. Using an artificial magnetic field model the microwave flux spectrum has been calculated on the basis of gyro-synchrotron emission and absorption by solving the equation of radiation transfer along the ray trajectories. Open parameters were used to adapt the spectrum to the radio measurements.Thus probable informations about the most appropriate magnetic field parameters as well as about the time- and frequency- dependent source diameters (yielding growth velocities of the core region during the impulsive phase) are deduced for the burst of 1972 May 18 as an example. A fit of the observed spectrum at the burst maximum is consistent with a magnetic field of 150O G at the core centre decreasing up to about 40 G at the top of the halo at a height of 50 000 km above the centre, a core density of 10¹⁰ cm^–3 decreasing to 10⁹ cm^–3 at the outer halo boundary, and a core diameter of 15 000 km (]20).Due to the simple geometry and emission process adopted,- the model refers primarily to special impulsive bursts. For the representation of broad band microwave bursts, e.g. type IV , events, a more complex source geometry and/or other variants of the emission mechanism must be invoked.     

Location of type I radio continuum and bursts on Yohkoh soft X-ray maps

A solar type I noise storm was observed on 30 July, 1992 with the radio spectrometer Phoenix of ETH Zürich, the Very Large Array (VLA) and the soft X-ray (SXR) telescope on board theYohkoh satellite. The spectrogram was used to identify the type I noise storm. In the VLA images at 333 MHz a fully left circular polarized (100% LCP) continuum source and several highly polarized (70% to 100% LCP) burst sources have been located. The continuum and the bursts are spatially separated by about 100 and apparently lie on different loops as outlined by the SXR. Continuum and bursts are separated in the perpendicular direction to the magnetic field configuration. Between the periods of strong burst activities, burst-like emissions are also superimposed on the continuum source. There is no obvious correlation between the flux density of the continuum and the bursts. The burst sources have no systematic motion, whereas the the continuum source shows a small drift of 0.2 min^–1 along the X-ray loop in the long-time evolution. The VLA maps at higher frequency (1446 MHz) show no source corresponding to the type I event. The soft X-ray emission measure and temperature were calculated. The type I continuum source is located (in projection) in a region with enhanced SXR emission, a loop having a mean density of n _e = (1.5 ± 0.4) × 10⁹ cm^–3 and a temperature ofT = (2.1 ± 0.1) × 10⁶ K. The centroid positions of the left and right circularly polarized components of the burst sources are separated by 15–50 and seem to be on different loops. These observations contradict the predictions of existing type I theories.Presented at the CESRA-Workshop on Coronal Magnetic Energy Release at Caputh near Potsdam in May 1994.     

The flares of August 1972

We present the analysis of observations of the August flares at Big Bear and Tel Aviv, involving monochromatic movies, magnetograms and spectra. In each flare the observations fit a model of particle acceleration in the chromosphere with emission produced by impact and by heating by the energetic electrons and protons. The region showed inverted polarity and high gradients from birth, and flares appear due to strong magnetic shears and gradients across the neutral line produced by sunspot motions. Post flare loops show a strong change from sheared, force-free fields parallel to potential-field-like loops, perpendicular to the neutral line above the surface.We detected fast (5 s duration) small (1') flashes in 3835 at the footpoints of flux loops in the August 2 impulsive flare at 1838 UT, which may be explained by dumping of > 50 keV electrons accelerated in individual flux loops. The flashes show excellent time and intensity agreement with > 45 keV X-rays. In the less impulsive 2000 UT flare a less impulsive wave of emission in 3835 moved with the separating footpoints. The thick target model of X-ray production gives a consistent model for X-ray, 3835 and microwave emission in the 18:38 UT event.Spectra of the August 7 flare show emission 12 Å FWHM in flare kernels, but only 1 to 2 Å wide in the rest of the flare. The kernels thus produce most of the H emission. The total emission in H in the August 4 and August 7 flares was about 2 × 10³⁰ erg. We belive this dependable value more accurate than previous larger estimates for great flares. The time dependence of total H emission agrees with radio and X-ray data much better than area measurements which depend on the weaker halo.Absorption line spectra show a large (6 km/s^-1) photospheric velocity discontinuity across the neutral line, corresponding to sheared flow across that line.This work has been supported by NASA under NGR 05 002 034, NSF Atmospheric Sciences program under GA 24015, and AFCRL under FI9628-73-C-0085.     

Soho Observations of the Structure and Dynamics of Sunspot Region Atmospheres

We present results from a study of the spatial distributions of line emission and relative line-of-sight velocity in the atmosphere above 17 sunspot regions, from the chromosphere, through the transition region and into the corona, based on simultaneous observations of ten EUV emission lines with the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer – CDS on SOHO. We find that the spatial distributions are nonuniform over the sunspot region and introduce the notation 'sunspot loop' to describe an enhanced transition region emission feature that looks like a magnetic loop, extending from inside the sunspot to the surrounding regions. We find little evidence for the siphon flow. Attention is given to the time variations since we observe both a rapid variation with a characteristic time of a few to several minutes and a slow variation with a time constant of several hours to 1 day. The most prominent features in the transition region intensity maps are the sunspot plumes. We introduce an updated criterion for the presence of plumes and find that 15 out of 17 sunspots contain a plume in the temperature range logT5.2–5.6. The relative line-of-sight velocity in sunspot plumes is high and directed into the Sun in the transition region. Almost all the sunspot regions contain one or a few prominent, strongly redshifted velocity channels, several of the channels extend from the sunspot plume to considerable distances from the sunspot. The flow appears to be maintained by plasmas at transition region temperatures, moving from regions located at a greater height outside the sunspots and towards the sunspot. The spatial correlation is high to moderate between emission lines formed in the transition region lines, but low between the transition region lines and the coronal lines. From detailed comparisons of intensity and velocity maps we find transition region emission features without any sign of coronal emission in the vicinity. A possible explanation is that the emission originates in magnetic flux tubes that are too cold to emit coronal emission. The comparisons suggest that gas at transition region temperature occur in loops different from loops with coronal temperature. However, we cannot exclude the presence of transition region temperatures close to the footpoints of flux tubes emitting at coronal temperatures. Regions with enhanced transition region line emission tend to be redshifted, but the correlation between line emission and relative line-of-sight velocity is weak. We extend our conditional probability studies and confirm that there is a tendency for line profiles with large intensities and red shifts (blue shifts) above the average to constitute an increasing (decreasing) fraction of the profiles as the wavelength shift increases.     

MICROWAVE EMISSION FROM CORONAL HEIGHTS: STUDY OF A NON-THERMAL RADIO FLARE

Two small radio flares following the great gamma-ray burst on 11 June 1991 are studied. We analyse the different association of emission features at microwaves, decimeter waves, and soft and hard X-rays for the events. The first flare has well-defined emission features in microwaves and soft and hard X-rays, and a faint decimetric signature well after the hard X-ray burst. It is not certain if the decimetric event is connected to the burst features. The second event is characterized by an almost simultaneous appearance of hard X-ray burst maxima and decimetric narrowband drift bursts, but soft X-ray emission is missing from the event. With the exception of the possibility that the soft X-ray emission is absorbed along the way, the following models can explain the reported differences in the second event: (1) Microwave emission in the second event is produced by 150 keV electrons spiraling in the magnetic field relatively low in the corona, while the hard X-ray emission is produced at the beginning of the burst near the loop top as thick-target emission. If the bulk of electrons entered the loop, the low-energy electrons would not be effectively mirrored and would eventually hit the footpoints and cause soft X-ray emission by evaporation, which was not observed. The collisions at the loop top would not produce observable plasma heating. The observed decimetric type III bursts could be created by plasma oscillations caused by electron beams traveling along the magnetic field lines at low coronal heights. (2) Microwave emission is caused by electrons with MeV energies trapped in the large magnetic loops, and the electrons are effectively mirrored from the loop footpoints. The hard X-ray emission can come both from the loop top and the loop footpoints as the accelerated lower energy electrons are not mirrored. The low-energy electrons are not, however, sufficient to create observable soft X-ray emission. The type III emission in this case could be formed either at low coronal heights or in local thick regions in the large loops, high in the corona.     

The flux-rope-fibre theory of solar magnetic fields

The flux-rope theory of solar magnetic fields is reviewed briefly and, together with the dynamo theory, compared with various observational results. Dynamo and related theories are based on fields controlled by the plasma, and it is shown that such fields cannot account for the strong surface fields or even emerge without becoming tangled. Observations which appear uniquely explicable in terms of powerful (4000 G), helically twisted flux ropes and their many twisted flux fibres (3×10¹⁸ Mx) are listed as follows. (i) Emerging magnetic flux is seen first as pairs of small, closely spaced flux concentrations whose motions suggest magnetic control to provide bipolar regions of extent10⁵ km. The associated system of arch filaments rotates on the disk as would a series of emerging flux fibres twisted into a rope. (ii) Sunspots form by the accretion of pores and magnetic knots of like polarity, sometimes moving along curved paths between stationary elements of opposite polarity. (iii) Fluxes of10²² Mx in large sunspots must have been concentrated to strengths of4000 G before emerging, and also strongly helically twisted to avoid the flute instability. (iv) The trumpet-shaped flux-rope-fibre sunspot model (Figure 6) accounts readily for the phenomena of the moat convection, the sunspot energy deficit, the complex Evershed flow, penumbral filaments (flux 3×10¹⁸ Mx) and temporary light bridges. (v) Asymmetries in sunspot groups (in spot size, lifetime and proper motion) show that the spot fields are extensions of two submerged magnetic structures comprising strong fields. (vi) Sunspots decay by the loss of magnetic knots with strong fields and flux 5×10¹⁸ Mx. These must be isolated flux tubes, twisted to account for their stability. (vii) Flux fibres leaving a spot are prone to the kink instability, thus accounting for their sudden appearance in pairs, the transport of total flux several times that of the spot and net flux equal to that of the spot. (viii) Ephemeral active regions and X-ray bright points are explained similarly without invoking improbably huge quantities of new flux. (ix) Atmospheric structures show a high prevalence of helical twists (force-free fields) and rotary motions on all scales from spicules to large prominences. It is difficult to account for these twists unless they are present in emerging flux. (x) In and above the photosphere the flux fibres (3×10¹⁸ Mx) fray into loose associations of flux threads (3×10¹⁷ Mx) to provide a simple, selfconsistent model of the solar filigree and the chromospheric rosette (bush) with its group of mottles (spicules). (xi) Global patterns of surface and coronal magnetic fields reveal puzzling features such as the migration of large unipolar regions and the freedom from differential rotation of some structures. Submerged flux ropes peeling out of the Sun provide a starting point for explaining these effects. These results provide a strong case for the flux-rope theory against the entrenched dynamo theory, and suggest that more observations should be made of the above ten phenomena. Where possible, simultaneous observations should be made of Zeeman effects and of plasma distributions and velocity field seen in white light and spectral lines.     

Electron–Whistler Interaction in Coronal Loops and Radiation Signatures

Interaction of the 30–300 keV electrons with whistlers in solar coronal loops is studied using a quasi-linear approach. We show that the electron–whistler interaction may play a dominant role in the formation of fast electron spectra within the solar flare loops with the plasma temperature 10⁷ K and plasma density 10¹¹ cm^–3. It is found that Landau damping of whistlers provides weak and intermediate pitch-angle diffusion regimes of fast electrons in coronal loops. The level of whistler turbulence in the weak diffusion regime under flare conditions is estimated as 10^–7 of the energy density in the thermal particles. The `top – footpoint' relations between the hard X-ray flux densities and spectra are derived. The reason for a `broken' spectrum of the flare microwave emission is discussed.     

Characteristics of soft solar X-ray bursts

The burst component of the solar X-ray flux in the soft wavelength range 2 < < 12 Å observed from Explorer 33 and Explorer 35 from July 1966 to September 1968 was analyzed. In this period 4028 burst peaks were identified.The differential distributions of the temporal and intensity parameters of the bursts revealed no separation into more than one class of bursts. The most frequently observed value for rise time was 4 min and for decay time was 12 min. The distribution of the ratio of rise to decay time can be represented by an exponential with exponent -2.31 from a ratio of 0.3 to 2.7; the maximum in this distribution occurred at a ratio of 0.3. The values of the total observed flux, divided by the background flux at burst maximum, can be represented by a power law with exponent -2.62 for ratios between 1.5 and 32. The distribution of peak burst fluxes can be represented by a power law with exponent - 1.75 over the range 1–100 milli-erg (cm² sec)^–1. The flux time integral values are given by a power law with exponent -1.44 over the range 1–50 erg cm^–2.The distribution of peak burst flux as a function of H importance revealed a general tendency for larger peak X-ray fluxes to occur with both larger H flare areas and with brighter H flares. There is no significant dependence of X-ray burst occurrence on heliographic longitude; the emission thus lacks directivity.The theory of free-free emission by a thermal electron distribution was applied to a composite quantitative discussion of hard X-ray fluxes (data from Arnoldy et al., 1968; Kane and Winckler, 1969; and Hudson et al., 1969) and soft X-ray fluxes during solar X-ray bursts. Using bursts yielding measured X-ray intensities in three different energy intervals, covering a total range of 1–50 keV, temperatures and emission measures were derived. The emission measure was found to vary from event to event. The peak time of hard X-ray events was found to occur an average of 3 min before the peak time of the corresponding soft X-ray bursts. Thus a changing emission measure during the event is also required. A free-free emission process with temperatures of 12–39 × 10⁶K and with an emission measure in the range 3.6 × 10⁴⁷ to 2.1 × 10⁵⁰ cm^–3 which varies both from event to event and within an individual event is required by the data examined.Now at Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey.