Multi-wavelength observations of the onset phase of a coronal mass ejection

The structure and dynamics of the initial phases of a coronal mass ejection (CME) seen in soft X-ray, extreme ultraviolet and optical emission are described. The event occurred on the SW limb of the Sun in active region AR 8026 on 9 April 1997. Just prior to the CME there was a class C1.5 flare. Images taken with the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) reveal the emergence of a candle-flame shaped extreme ultraviolet (EUV) cavity at the time of the flare. Yohkoh images, taken about 15 min later, show that this cavity is filled with hot X-ray emitting gas. It is most likely that this is the site of the flare. Almost simultaneous to the flare, an H surge or small filament eruption occurs about 50 arc sec northwards along the limb from the EUV cavity. At both the site of the core of the hot, EUV cavity and the filament ejection are X-ray jets. These jets seem to be connected by hot loops near their bases. Both jets disappear within a few minutes of one another.Clear evidence of the CME first appeared in the Large Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) and EIT images 40 min after the flare and onset of the filament ejection. It seems to come from a region between the two X-ray jets. This leads to the speculation that magnetic field reconnection near one footpoint of a loop system triggers reconnection near its other footpoint. The loop system is destabilized and ultimately gives rise to the CME. This possibility is supported by magnetic field and H images taken when the active region was at disk center which show that the active region had a double bipole structure with dark H filaments between the bipoles.     

EUV emission,filament activation and magnetic fields in a slow-rise flare

The evolution of coronal and chromospheric structures is examined together with magnetograms for the 1B flare of January 19, 1972. Soft X-ray and EUV studies are based on the OSO-7 data. The H filtergrams and magnetograms came from the Sacramento Peak Observatory. Theoretical force-free magnetic field configurations are compared with structures seen in the soft X-ray, EUV and H images. Until the flare, two prominent spots were connected by a continuous dark filament and their overlying coronal structure underwent an expansion at the sunspot separation rate of 0.1 km s^–1. On January 19, the flare occurred as new magnetic fields emerged at 10¹⁹ Mx h^–1 beneath the filament, which untwisted and erupted as the flare began. The pre-flare coronal emissions remained unchanged during the flare except for the temporary addition of a localized enhancement that started 5 min after flare onset. EUV lines normally emitted in the upper transition region displayed a sudden enhancement coinciding in time and location with a bright H point, which is believed to be near the flare trigger or onset point. The EUV flash and the initial H brightening, both of which occurred near the center of the activated filament, were followed by a second EUV enhancement at the end of the filament. The complete disruption of the filament was accompanied by a third EUV enhancement and a rapid rise in the soft X-ray emission spatially coincident with the disappearing filament. From the change of magnetic field inferred from H filtergrams and from force-free field calculations, the energy available for the flare is estimated at approximately 10³¹ erg. Apparently, changes in the overlying coronal magnetic field were not required to provide the flare energy. Rather, it is suggested that the flare actually started in the twisted filament where it was compressed by emerging fields. Clearly, the flare started below the corona, and it appears that it derived its energy from the magnetic fields in or near the filament.NCAR is sponsored by NSF.     

INTERPRETING THE LARGE LIMB ERUPTION OF JULY 9, 1982

A time series of K3 spectroheliograms taken at the Coimbra Observatory exhibits an erupting loop on the east limb on July 9, 1982 in active region NOAA 3804. The Goddard SMM Hard X-Ray Burst Spectrometer (HXRBS) observations taken during this period reveal a hard X-ray flare occurring just before the loop eruption is observed, and SMS-GOES soft X-ray observations reveal a strong long-duration event (LDE) following the impulsive phase of the flare. A Solwind coronagram exhibits a powerful coronal mass ejection (CME) associated with the erupting loop. H flare and prominence observations as well as centimeter and decimeter radio observations of the event are also reviewed. A large, north–south-oriented quiescent prominence reported within the upper part of the CME expansion region may play a role in the eruption as well. The spatial and temporal correlations among these observations are examined in the light of two different current models for prominence eruption and CME activation: (1) The CME is triggered by the observed hard X-ray impulsive flare. (2) The CME is not triggered by a flare, and the observed soft X-ray flare is an LDE due to reconnection within the CME bubble. It is concluded that this event is probably of a mixed type that combines characteristics of models (1) and (2). The July 9 event is then compared to three other energetic CME and flare eruptions associated with the same active-region complex, all occurring in the period July 9 through September 4, 1982. It is noted that these four energetic events coincide with the final evolutionary phase of a long-lasting active-region complex, which is discussed in a companion paper (Bumba, Garcia, and Jordan, 1997). The paper concludes by addressing the solar flare myth controversy in the light of this work.     

Study of the post-flare loops on 29 July 1973

Bright and dark curvilinear structures observed between the two major chromospheric ribbons during the flare of 29 July 1973 on films from the Big Bear Solar Observatory are interpreted as a typical system of coronal loops joining the inner boundaries of the separating flare ribbons. These observations, made through a 0.25 Å H filter, only show small segments of the loops having Doppler shifts within approximately ± 22 km s^–1 relative to the filter passband centered at H, H -0.5 Å or H +0.5 Å. However, from our knowledge of the typical behavior of such loop systems observed at the limb in H and at 5303 Å, it has been possible to reconstruct an appoximate model of the probable development of the loops of the 29 July flare as they would have been viewed at the limb relative to the position of a prominence which began to erupt a few minutes before the start of the flare. It is seen that the loops ascended through the space previously occupied by the filament. On the assumption that H fine structures parallel the magnetic field, we can conclude that a dramatic reorientation of the direction of the magnetic field in the corona occurred early in the flare, subsequent to the start of the eruption of the filament and prior to the time that the H loops ascended through the space previously occupied by the filament.     

Loop interaction scenario of a trace flare

We analyzed simultaneous EUV images from the Transition Region And Coronal Explorer (TRACE) and H and H filtergrams from Huairou Solar Observing Station (HSOS). In active region NOAA 8307, an H C5.5 flare occurred near 06:10 UT on 23 August 1998. In this paper, we concentrated on loop–loop interaction, as well as their relationship to the C5.5 flare. We find that while opposite polarity magnetic fields cancelled each other, H bright points appeared, and then the flare occurred. Looking at EUV images, we noticed that a TRACE flare, associated with the C5.5 flare in H and H filtergrams, first appeared as patch-shaped structures, then the flare patches expanded to form bright loops. We used a new numerical technique to extrapolate the chromospheric and coronal magnetic field. Magnetic field loops, which linked flare ribbons, were found. It was suggested that loop interaction in the active region was the cause of the TRACE and H flare; the magnetic topological structures were clearly demonstrated and the TRACE flare was probably due to the interaction among energetic low-lying and other longer (higher) magnetic loops. Each primary flare kernel, seen from H, H filtergrams, and EUV images, was located near the footpoints of several interacting loops.     

Hα manifestation of an energetic limb flare,June 21, 1980

The H observations of a limb flare, which were associated with exceptional gamma-ray and hard X-ray emission, are presented and discussed. The good spatial and temporal resolution of the H data allow us to investigate the detailed structure of the elevated flare loops and the intensity variations of the loops, footpoints and surrounding chromosphere during each phase of the flare event. A delay time of 12 s was found between at least one of the hard X-ray (28–485 keV) peaks and corresponding H intensity maximum at a loop footpoint. A comparison is made between this event and another well-observed limb flare with many similar characteristics to seek evidence for the large difference in their levels of energy release.     

Coronal X-ray activity preceding solar flares

A comprehensive survey of Skylab S-054 soft X-ray images was performed to investigate the characteristics of coronal enhancements preceding solar flares. A search interval of 30 min before flare onset was used. A control sample was developed and tests of the statistical results performed. X-ray images with preflare enhancements were compared with high resolution H images and photospheric magnetograms.The results are as follows: preflare X-ray enhancements were found in a statistically significant number of the preflare intervals, and consisted of one to three loops, kernels or sinuous features per interval. Typically, the preflare feature was not at the flare site and did not reach flare brightness. There was no systematically observed time within the preflare interval for the preflare events to appear and no correlation of preflare event characteristics with the subsequent flare energy. Gas pressures of several preflare features were calculated to be on the order of several dyne cm^–2, typical of active region loops, not flares. These results suggest that observations with both high spatial resolution and low coronal temperature sensitivity are required to detect these small, low pressure enhancements that preceded the smaller flares typical of the Skylab epoch. H brightenings were associated with nearly all of the preflare X-ray enhancements. Changing H absorption features in the form of surges or filament activations were observed in about half of the cases. These results do not provide observational support for models which involve preheating of the flare loop, but they are consistent with some current sheet models which invoke the brightening of structures displaced from the flare site tens of min before onset.     

Analysis of EUV limb brightening observations from ATM

Magnetic fields in the low corona are the only plausible source of energy for solar flares. Other energy sources appear inadequate or uncorrelated with flares. Low coronal magnetic fields cannot be measured accurately, so most attention has been directed toward measurements of the photospheric magnetic fields from which coronal developments may be inferred. Observations of these magnetic fields are reviewed. It is concluded that, except possibly for the largest flares, changes in the photospheric magnetic fields in flaring centers are confined to evolutionary changes associated with emergence of new magnetic flux. Flare observations with the 10830 Å line of helium, in particular, are discussed. It is concluded that the brightest flare knots appear near points of emergent magnetic flux. Pre-flare activation and eruptions of H filaments are discussed. It is concluded that the rapid motions in filaments indicate unambiguously that the magnetic fields in the low corona are severely disrupted prior to most flares. The coronal signature of H filament eruptions is illustrated with soft X-ray photographs from the S-054 experiment of the NASA Skylab mission. An attempt is made, by studying X-ray flare morphology, to determine whether flares grow by reconnections between adjacent or intertwined magnetic elements or by triggering, in which each flaring loop drives adjacent loops to unstable states. It is concluded that successive loop brightenings are most easily interpreted as the result of magnetic field reconnections, although better time resolution is required to settle the question. A model of magnetic field reconnections for flares associated with filament activation and emerging magnetic flux is presented.     

Flare and filament activation in an unusually distorted field configuration

Using photospheric and H observations and total radio flux data we study a two-ribbon flare in AR NOAA 4263 which was a part of a flare event complex on July 31, 1983. We find some facts which illuminate the special way of flare triggering in the analysed event. Around a double spot the photospheric vector magnetic field is discussed with respect to the chromospheric activities. In one of the spots the feet of long stretched loops are pushed down under steepening loops rooted in the same spot. This causes energy build-up by twist and shear in the stretched loops. One foot of the two-ribbon flare (triggered in the stretched and underpushed loop system) roots in a part of the spot umbra and penumbra where the field runs in extremely flat like a pressed spiral spring. A strange radio event, starting before the flares, can be interpreted as a precursor activity of the flare event complex. The radio data support the view that the analyzed flare process and the given magnetic field structure, respectively, are not very effective in energetic particle generation and escape.     

Coronal changes associated with a disappearing filament

This paper describes Skylab/ATM observations of the events associated with a disappearing filament near the center of the solar disk on January 18, 1974. As the filament disappeared, the nearby coronal plasma was heated to a temperature in excess of 6 × 10⁶K. A change in the pattern of coronal emission occurred during the 11/3 hr period that the soft X-ray flux was increasing. This change seemed to consist of the formation and apparent expansion of a loop-like coronal structure which remained visible until its passage around the west limb several days later. The time history of the X-ray and microwave radio flux displayed the well-known gradual-rise-and-fall (GRF) signature, suggesting that this January 18 event may have properties characteristic of a wide class of X-ray and radio events.In pursuit of this idea, we examined other spatially-resolved Skylab/ATM observations of long-duration X-ray events to see what characteristics they may have in common. Nineteen similar long-lived SOLRAD X-ray events having either the GRF or post-burst radio classification occurred during the nine-month Skylab mission. Sixteen of these occurred during HAO/ATM coronagraph observations, and 7 of these 16 events occurred during observations with both the NRL/ATM slitless spectrograph and the MSFC-A/ATM X-ray telescope. The tabulation of these events suggests that all long-lived SOLRAD X-ray bursts involve transients in the outer corona and that at least two-thirds of the bursts involve either the eruption or major activation of a prominence. Also, these observations indicate that long-lived SOLARD events are characterized by the appearance of new loops of emission in the lower corona during the declining phase of the X-ray emission. However, sometimes these loops disappear after the X-ray event (like the post-flare loops associated with a sporadic coronal condensation), and sometimes the loops remain indefinitely (like the emission from a permanent coronal condensation).Visiting Scientist, Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, Ariz. 85726, U.S.A. operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation.Presently located at NASA/MSFC, Space Sciences Laboratory, Marshall Space Flight Center, Ala. 35812, U. S.A.     

High-Resolution Hα Observations of Proper Motion in NOAA 8668: Evidence for Filament Mass Injection by Chromospheric Reconnection

There have been two different kinds of explanations for the source of cool material in prominences or filaments: coronal condensations from above and cool plasma injections from below. In this paper, we present observational results which support filament mass injection by chromospheric reconnection. The observations of an active filament in the active region NOAA 8668 were performed on 17 August 1999 at a wavelength of H–0.6 Å using the 65 cm vacuum reflector, a Zeiss H birefringent filter, and a 12-bit SMD digital camera of Big Bear Solar Observatory. The best image was selected every 12 s for an hour based on a frame selection algorithm. All the images were then co-aligned and corrected for local distortion due to the seeing. The time-lapse movie of the data shows that the filament was undergoing ceaseless motion. The H flow field has been determined as a function of time using local correlation tracking. Time-averaged flow patterns usually trace local magnetic field lines, as inferred from H fibrils and line-of-sight magnetograms. An interesting finding is a transient flow field in a system of small H loops, some of which merge into the filament. The flow is associated with a cancelling magnetic feature which is located at one end of the loop system. Initially a diverging flow with speeds below 10 km s^–1 is visible at the flux cancellation site. The flow is soon directed along the loops and accelerated up to 40 km s^–1 in a few minutes. Some part of the plasma flow then merges into and moves along the filament. This kind of transient flow takes place several times during the observations. Our results clearly demonstrate that reconnection in the photosphere and chromosphere is a likely way to supply cool material to a filament, as well as re-organizing the magnetic field configuration, and, hence, is important in the formation of filaments.     

Photospheric and Chromospheric Activity Associated with 3B Flare of February 27, 1992

We have analyzed the H filtergrams and vector magnetograms of the active region NOAA 7070, in which a 3B/X3.3 flare occurred on February 27, 1992. The average area per sunspot of this active region was in declining phase at the time of the flare. The vector magnetograms indicate that the magnetic field was non-potential at the flaring site. Besides non-potentiality, the longitudinal field gradient was found to be the highest at the region showing initial H brightening. Further, in H filtergrams no appreciable change in the morphology of the filament tracing the magnetic neutral line was noticed in the post-flare stage. Also, the photospheric vector magnetograms show considerable shear in post-flare magnetic field of the active region. In this paper we present the observations and discuss the possible mechanism responsible for the 3B/X3.3 flare.     

Precise determination of cooling times of post-flare loops from the detailed comparison between Hα and soft X-ray images

A detailed study of the evolution and cooling process of post-flare loops is presented for a large X9.2 solar flare of 2 November 1992 by using H images obtained with Domeless Solar Telescope at Hida Observatory and soft X-ray images of Yohkoh Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT). The detailed analysis with a new method allows us to determine more precise values of the cooling times from 10⁷ K to 10⁴ K plasma in the post-flare loops than in previous works. The subtraction of sequential images shows that soft X-ray dimming regions are well correlated to the H brightening loop structure. The cooling times between 10⁷ K and 10⁴ K are defined as the time difference between the start of soft X-ray intensity decrease and the end of H intensity increase at a selected point, where the causal relation between H brightening and soft X-ray dimming loops is confirmed. The obtained cooling times change with time; about 10 min at the initial stage and about 40 min at the later stage. The combined conductive and radiative cooling times are also calculated by using the temperature and density obtained from SXT data. Calculated cooling times are close to observed cooling times at the beginning of the flare and longer in the later stage.     

VLA observations of interacting flaring loops

We present 4.9 GHz observations of an impulsive radio burst observed at the Very Large Array on 1981 May 16. The flare occurred in a complex active region containing several spots. The radio burst lay at the edge of an active-region microwave source, close to a neutral line. The compact burst showed morphological evidence for the presence of two loops in the rise phase, with the subsequent burst peak lying between these loops. This suggests that interaction between the loops played some role in the initiation of the flare. The flare spectrum is consistent with thermal gyrosynchrotron emission. The main microwave peak was displaced from the nearest H kernels by about 10, but there is strong evidence for post-flare loops coincident with the H kernels during the later stages of the event.     

X-ray and Hα observations of a filament-disappearance flare: An empirical analysis of the magnetic field configuration

A flare event occurred which involved the disappearance of a filament near central meridian on 29 August 1973. The event was well observed in X-rays with the AS & E telescope on Skylab and in H at BBSO. It was a four-ribbon flare involving both new and old magnetic inversion lines which were roughly parallel. The H, X-ray, and magnetic field data are used to deduce the magnetic polarities of the H brightenings at the footpoints of the brightest X-ray loops. These magnetic structures and the preflare history of the region are then used to argue that the event involved a reconnection of magnetic field lines rather than a brightening in place of pre-existing loops. The simultaneity of the H brightening onsets in the four ribbons and the apparent lack of an eruption of the filament are consistent with this interpretation. These observations are compared to other studies of filament disappearances. The preflare structures and the alignment of the early X-ray flare loops with the H filament are consistent with the schematic picture of a filament presented first by Canfield et al. (1974).     

The Filament Disappearance of 7 May 1992 (the Ebi)

The 7 May 1992 filament disappearance in the low corona is analyzed. The cool and hot components of this event are studied, using H, soft X-ray and radio data. We first show the general effect of the disparition brusque (DB) on the life of the filament, which was a quiescent filament in the vicinity of an active region, and then give the history of the development of the 7 May event. The main stages of the event are: (i) the formation of hot arches spanning the cool filament; (ii) rise of the filament, with plasma ejection into the corona, in which we note some spreading of loops from the main body, with two distinct rising velocity phases of the H filament; (iii) formation of X-ray arches below the filament, the foot points of the arcades being two-ribbon H flare patches. The dynamics of H and X-rays features are given.     

Multi-Wavelength Observation Results of the C5.6 Limb Flare of 1 August 2003

We obtained a complete set of H, Ca 8542 and He I 10830 spectra and slit-jaw H images of the C5.6 limb flare of 1 August 2003 using the Multi-channel Infrared Solar Spectrograph (MISS) at Purple Mountain Observatory. This flare was also observed by the Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) and partially by the Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) on SOHO. This flare underwent a rapid rising and expanding episode in the impulsive phase. All the H, Ca 8542 and He I 10830 profiles of the flare are rather wide and the widest profiles were observed in the middle bright part of the flare instead of at the flare loop top near the flare maximum. The flare manifested obvious rotation in the flare loop and the decrease of the rotation angular speed with time at the loop-top may imply a de-twisting process of the magnetic field. The significant increases of the Doppler widths of these lines in the impulsive phase reflect quick heating of the chromosphere, and rapid rising and expanding of the flare loop. The RHESSI observations give a thermal energy spectrum for this flare, and two thermal sources and no non-thermal source are found in the reconstructed RHESSI images. This presumably indicates that the energy transfer in this flare is mainly by heat conduction. The stronger thermal source is located near the solar limb with its position unchanged in the flare process and spatially coincident with the intense EUV and H emissions. The weaker one moved during the flare process and is located in the H dark cavities. This flare may support the theory of the magnetic reconnections in the lower solar atmosphere.     

A coronal loop model for the production of X-ray and radio flares in the RS CVn binary HR 1099

The RS CVn binary stellar system HR 1099 is a source of both X-ray and radio flares. We present here a model of the system in which the two types of flare are produced by the same population of mildly-relativistic ( 10) electrons, injected into a coronal loop. After reviewing possible radiation mechanisms we conclude that, given the probable conditions in the flaring region, the radio emission is gyrosynchrotron radiation and the X-ray emission is thermal bremsstrahlung. The thermal X-ray source must lie in the stellar chromosphere, but the apparent absence of plasma absorption at radio frequencies indicates that the radio source is located high in the coronal loop. Using the relationships given by Dulk and Marsh (1982) for the radio emission from a power-law electron energy spectrum,N() ( - 1)^–, we conclude that 3 7, with 30% of the electron population trapped in the radio source. Some implications of these results for one particular version of the model are discussed.     

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.     

A new microwave/X-ray diagnostic for the thermal phase of solar flares

We have observed 10 solar bursts during the thermal phase using the Haystack radio telescope at 22 GHz. We show that these high frequency flux observations, when compared with soft X-ray band fluxes, give useful information about the temperature profile in the flare loops. The microwave and X-ray band fluxes provide determinations of the maximum loop temperature, the total emission measure, and the index of the differential emission measure (q(T)/T = cT^–1). The special case of an isothermal loop ( = ) has been considered previously by Thomas et al. (1985), and we confirm their diagnostic calculations for the GOES X-ray bands, but find that the flare loops we observed departed significantly from the isothermal regime. Our results ( = 1–3.5) imply that, during the late phases of flares, condensation cooling ( 3.5) competes with radiative cooling ( 1.5). Further, our results appear to be in good agreement with previous deductions from XUV rocket spectra ( 2–3).