Radio observations of the solar neutron flare of 3 June, 1982

In this paper the solar neutron and white-light flare is studied on the basis of radioastronomical observations. It is shown that the 3 June, 1982 flare had an impulsive character. A strong shock wave (M _A 2.9) was observed unusually soon after the impulsive phase of the flare. The radio spectrum of this event shows that the primary acceleration process probably occurred in the region with an electron density of n _e = 4.4 × 10¹⁵ m^–3. The pulsations of the type IV radio burst, observed 15 min after the mass ejection process, manifest the reconnection process in the post-flare stage.Proceedings of the Workshop on Radio Continua during Solar Flares, held at Duino (Trieste), Italy, 27–31 May, 1985.     

Multi-wavelength observations of the 1998 September 27 flare spray

We report on observations of a large eruptive event associated with a flare that occurred on 27 September 1998 made with the Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope at Sacramento Peak Observatory (several wave bands including off-line-center H), in soft and hard X-rays (GOES and BATSE), and in several TRACE wave bands (including Feix/x 171 Å, Fexii 195 Å, and Civ 1550 Å). The flare initiation is signaled by two H foot-point brightenings which are closely followed by a hard X-ray burst and a subsequent gradual increase in other wavelengths. The flare light curves show a complicated, three-component structure which includes two minor maxima before the main GOES class C5.2 peak after which there is a characteristic exponential decline. During the initial stages, a large spray event is observed within seconds of the hard X-ray burst which can be directly associated with a two-ribbon flare in H. The emission returns to pre-flare levels after about 35 min, by which time a set of bright post-flare loops have begun to form at temperatures of about 1.0–1.5 MK. Part of the flare plasma also intrudes into the penumbra of a large sunspot, generally a characteristic of very powerful flares, but the flare importance in GOES soft X-rays is in fact relatively modest. Much of the energy appears to be in the form of a second ejection which is observed in optical and ultraviolet bands, traveling out via several magnetic flux tubes from the main flare site (about 60° from Sun center) to beyond the limb.     

Measurement of the full Stokes vector of He I 10830 Å

First observations of the full Stokes vector in the upper chromosphere are presented. The He I 10830 Å line, which has been shown to give reliable measurements of the line-of-sight component of the magnetic field vector, has been used for this purpose. It is shown that the difference between the appearance of chromospheric and photospheric magnetic structures observed close to the solar limb is largely due to the difference in height to which they refer and projection effects. The observations do suggest, however, that the magnetic field above sunspot penumbrae is somewhat more vertical in the chromosphere than in the photosphere.The National Optical Astronomy Obervatories are operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation     

Properties of the He I 10830 A Line in Solar Flares

We study the properties of the He I 10830 (A) line in nine selected solar flares, using spectral data obtained with the Multi-channel Infrared Solar Spectrograph (MISS) at Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO) and photospheric images from the Michelson Doppler Imager (MD1) onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Our results indicate that, over an area of 3"- 8", the He I 10830 (A) line shows emission exceeding the continuum in nearby quiet region when the Geostationary Operations Environmental Satellite (GOES) X-ray class of the flare reaches a threshold value (C4.5). The He I 10830A line emission is detected only in the kernels of the Hα brightenings, but is not associated with the size of the flare. It is found that, whenever the He I 10830(A) line shows excess emission over the nearby continuum both the Hα and the Ca II 8542 (A) lines display enhanced intensities exceeding their preflare intensities. The He I 10830(A) line emission can occasionally extend into the umbra of the involved sunspot, which is inconsistent with previous studies. The weak com-ponent of He I 10830(A) line changes from emission to absorption earlier than does the main component. Our results favor the photoionization-reconnection mechanism for the excitation of the He I 10830(A) line.     

The He I 10830 Å Line as an Indicator of Solar Activity

The behavior of the He I 10830 Å infrared triplet parameters in active and quiet solar regions was traced from 1976 until 2000. We analyze the correlation between the central depth of the main He I line component and other solar activity indices: the Wolf number, the radiation flux at a frequency of 2800 MHz, the mean number of flares in sunspot groups, and the mean solar magnetic field. We show that the strong correlation between the He I 10830 Å line depth and the phase of the 11-year solar cycle allows this depth to be effectively used as a new solar activity index both on long time scales (years) and on times scales of the order of a month or even days. The suggested new activity index is shown to have advantages over the universally accepted indices. The depth of the He I 10830 Å line in quiet regions was found to increase from the phase of minimum solar activity to the phase of maximum by a factor of about 2. In active regions, this increase is less than 30%. The differences between the cyclic variations of the chromospheric He I 10830 Å line radiation in active and quiet structures on the solar disk are indicative of the probable differences in the nature of cyclicity and its manifestations in magnetic fields of different spatial scales. The background magnetic fields appear to vary during the solar cycle more strongly than do the local fields associated with sunspots, faculae, and activity complexes. We suggest using regular observations in the He I 10830 Å line to predict solar activity.     

Photosphere model of 2N/2M solar flare: July 18, 2000

We investigate the photosphere parameters of a 2N/M2 solar flare that occurred in the NOAA 9077 active area on 18 July, 2000 before its maximum. We use Echelle Zeeman spectrograms obtained in orthogonal circular polarizations by means of a solar spectrograph of the astronomical observatory of Kiev National University, Ukraine (Kurochka, E.V., et. al, 1980). The photosphere is simulated by SIR software (Ruiz Cobo, B. and del Toro Inesta, J.C., 1992). The model of the flare??s photosphere is characterized by a two-component structure, including a magnetic flux tube and its nonmagnetic environment. For both components, we obtain the height distribution of the following parameters: temperature, magnetic field density and line-of-sight velocity. The temperature in the magnetic flux tube increases to approximately 5100 K in the upper photosphere layer of 250?C400 km. The magnetic field intensity decreases sharply from 2600 G (lower photosphere) to 100 G (middle photosphere) with a gradient of about 12 G/km. The model of the nonmagnetic environment differs slightly from the model of undisturbed photosphere.     

Limb observations of He I 1083 nm

Imaging spectroscopic data of the He i 1083 nm limb emission were taken on several dates in October and November 1995 with the NASA/NSO spectromagnetograph at the NSO/Kitt Peak vacuum telescope and on 9 December, 1993 with the Michigan infrared camera at the NSO/Sacramento Peak vacuum tower telescope. Emission line profiles were observed in quiet-Sun and coronal hole locations on the northern and southern solar poles and on the east solar limb. The height of the He i 1083 nm shell above the continuum limb at 1083 nm was measured to be 2.11 ± 0.12 Mm with the Kitt Peak data, and 1.74 ± 0.05 Mm with the Sacramento Peak data. The Kitt Peak data show (1) within the measurement error there is no significant difference in the height or thickness of the emission shell in coronal holes compared with the quiet Sun, (2) the 1083 nm emission intensity drops by 50% in coronal holes, (3) the line width decreases by about 2 km s^-1 in coronal holes (suggesting less inclined spicules), (4) the line width of the He i 1083 nm line jumps significantly as the line of sight crosses the solar limb (consistent with a higher temperature upper shell), (5) a quiescent prominence shows a smaller spectral line width (consistent with a cooler temperature or less velocity broadening), and (6) the entire emission shell and the prominence show a He i spectral component ratio of about 8 (suggesting optically thin emission).Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA), under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.     

Two-component photosphere models of a 2N/M2-class solar flare

Physical state of the photosphere during a 2N/M2 solar flare on July 18, 2000, was studied. We used Echelle Zeeman spectrograms obtained by V. G. Lozitsky in orthogonal circular polarizations with a solar spectrograph. Semiempirical photospheric models were constructed for three moments in time in the initial and main phases of the flare using the SIR code applied to Stokes I and V profiles of seven iron and chromium lines. The photospheric model of the flare contains two components: a magnetic-field component and nonmagnetic environment. The height distributions of the temperature, magnetic field, and line-of-sight velocity were derived. The temperature in the nonmagnetic component had a nonmonotonous run with height. The models include layers in the middle and upper photosphere in which temperature is enhanced relative to an unperturbed photosphere model. As the flare developed, the temperature in the lower layers was increasing by 500–800 K. The magnetic field increased by 0.05 T and 0.08–0.1 T in the lower and upper photosphere during the flare, respectively, with the vertical temperature gradient decreasing from 0.0012 to 0.0008 T/km. The model for the onset phase of the flare indicates that there were upflows and downflows of substance in the lower and upper photosphere, respectively. The flow velocities decreased appreciably in the main phase of the flare. The model parameters of the nonmagnetic environment were only slightly different from those of the unperturbed photosphere.     

Multi-Wavelength Analysis of the 29 September 2002 M2.6/2N Flare

Using TRACE EUV 171 Å line, Hα line, Zürich radio, RHESSI, and HXRS observations the 29 September 2002 flare (M2.6), which occurred in AR NOAA 0134, was analyzed. Flaring structures were compared with a potential magnetic field model (field lines and quasi-separatrix layers) made from SOHO/MDI full-disk magnetogram. Series of high-resolution SOHO/MDI magnetograms and TRACE white-light images were used to find changes in the active region at the photosphere during the flare. The flare began with a rising of a small dark loop followed by the flare brightening observed in 171 Å with TRACE and Hα lines. In radio wavelengths, first type III bursts were observed 5 min prior to the start of hard X-ray emission, indicating a pre-flare coronal activity. The main hard X-ray emission peak (at 06:36 UT) was associated with the second type III burst activity and several slowly negatively drifting features, all starting from one point on the radio spectrum (probably a shock propagating through structures with different plasma parameters). After this time a huge loop formed and three minutes later it became visible in absorption both in Hα and 171 Å EUV lines. The phase of huge dark loop formation was characterized by long-lasting, slowly negatively drifting pulsations and drifting continuum. Finally, considering this huge loop as a surge an evolution of the event under study is discussed.     

Flare parameters for the 7 September, 1973 two-ribbon flare

A study is made of the relative importance of the various energy loss mechanisms for the long-decay event of 7 September, 1973, using spectral scans in the 400 Å–1335 Å range. This spectral range contains many of the important electron density and temperature diagnostic line ratios for the solar transition zone. We refine earlier analyses of the flare energy budget using more detailed emission measure curves and density diagnostics. We examine the constant pressure assumptions used in both coronal loop models and in the interpretation of observations in terms of flare energetics. We find that much of the upper transition region emission originates in cooling loops. Radiative losses are found to dominate.     

A two-temperature model for the flare of 5 September, 1973

The energetics and mass transfer during the X-ray flare of 1831 GMT on 5 September, 1973 have been studied using the observations in the objective grating mode of the AS&E X-ray spectrographic telescope on Skylab. The flare was a moderately energetic one, Class M1 according to Solrad. In H, however, it was only a subflare of class - N. The data are approximately monochromatic images of the small X-ray source. They show a continued rise in the emission for several minutes followed by a decline. The size and temporal evolution are slightly different for ions associated with higher temperatures (Fe xxii, Si xiii) than with those of lower temperatures (Fe xvii, Mg xi). The time of maximum emission moves from one side of the flare to the other and peaks earlier for hotter temperature ions. The observations are analyzed using a two-temperature model in order to determine the changes in the distribution of emission measure and of the amount of material as a function of temperature. The development of the flare can be divided into three periods in each of which different mechanisms are operating. For the first 3–4 min, evaporation drives mass into the entire emitting region. Second, the evaporation ceases: Hot material loses energy, and we see a loss of hot material and a corresponding gain of cool material. Later, after 1838, we see a decline in the emission measure.     

Decameter studies of the 5 September 1973 flare

We discuss the spectra and positions of the meter-decameter wavelength radio sources associated with the 5 September 1973 flare. We discuss the evolution of the size of the type II burst source and show that it fluctuates by a factor of 10, or larger. Consequently, the potential and kinetic energies associated with the shock are uncertain by the same factor. By comparing the positions of the type II and type III sources we conclude that while the shock wave associated with the type II was guided along high loops, the type III electrons were injected along open field lines which diverged within a short height in the corona. The characteristics of a particularly interesting type III burst with a low-frequency cut-off are discussed. We argue that nearby loops were not disrupted by the shock and that the energetic electrons produced during the event must have been injected at several sites and guided along open field lines at large distances from the flare to produce type III bursts.     

Visual and photographic white light flare observations of 4 July 1974

Visual impressions and a photograph of an intense white light flare are presented. A densitometer trace across the 4 July 1974 flare showing relative intensity of the white light flare, photosphere and umbra is also shown. A second white light flare is suspected on a photograph taken 43/4 hrs later. Both flares coincide in time with major H-flare activity.     

Multi-wavelength observations of the 2014 June 11 M3.9 flare: temporal and spatial characteristics

We present multi-wavelength observations of an M-class flare(M3.9) that occurred on 2014 June 11. Our observations were conducted with the Dunn Solar Telescope(DST), employing adaptive optics, the multi-camera system Rapid Oscillations in Solar Atmosphere(ROSA), the new Hydrogen-Alpha Rapid Dynamics camera(HARDcam) in various wavelengths, such as Ca II K, Mg I b_2(at 5172.7 ?A), and Hα narrow band and G-band continuum filters. Images were re-constructed using the Kiepenheuer-Institut Speckle Interferometry Package(KISIP) code, to improve our image resolution. We observed intensity increases of ≈120%–150% in the Mg, Ca K and Hα narrow band filters during the flare. Intensity increases for the flare observed in the SDO EUV channels were several times larger, and the X-rays, as recorded by GOES, increased over a factor of 30 for the harder band. Only a modest delay was found between the onset of flare ribbons of a nearby sympathetic flare and the main flare ribbons observed in these narrow band filters. The peak flare emission occurred within a few seconds for the Ca K, Mg and Hα bands. Timedistance techniques indicate propagation velocities of ≈60 km s~(-1) for the main flare ribbon and as high as300 km s~(-1) for smaller regions, which we attribute to filament eruptions. This result and delays and velocities observed with SDO(≈100 km s~(-1)) for different coronal heights agree well with the simple model of energy propagation versus height, although a more detailed model for the flaring solar atmosphere is needed. Finally, we detected marginal quasi-periodic pulsations(QPPs) in the 40–60 s range for the Ca K,Mg and Hα bands, and such measurements are important for disentangling the detailed flare-physics.     

C_2H, HC_3N and HNC observations in OMC-2/3

For the first time, the OMC-2/3 region was mapped in C2H (1-0), HC3N (10-9) and HNC (1-0) lines. In general, the emissions from all the three molecular species reveal an extended filamentary structure. The distribution of C2H cores almost follows that of the 1300μm condensations, which might suggest that C2H is a good tracer to study the core structure of molecular clouds. The core masses traced by HNC are rather ?at, ranging from 18.8 to 49.5 M , while also presenting a large span for those from C2H, rangi...     

The pre-onset morphology of the 5 September 1973 flare

Simultaneous visible, EUV, and X-ray observations of magnetic structures before and during the onset of the flare of 5 September 1973 are co-registered and interpreted. Ninety minutes before the flare, intense EUV knots fluctuate near the loops which subsequently flare. The pre-flare loop is observed in O IV 554, but not in X-rays, which show instead a parallel structure which is related either to a darkening filament or the subsequent flare kernels. As the full disk X-ray emission increases, first the EUV flare loop appears, then X-ray kernels form at the feet of two EUV loops, one of which overlies the activated filament. The flaring, at any given time, is confined to a single loop (or bundle of loops) whose long axis (barely) crosses the neutral line. As time progresses, the flaring moves to other (probably higher) loops sharing the off-band H footpoints but whose axes are rotated relative to the earlier loops by angles of about 30°. Previous interpretations of single-telescope observations are revised in this joint investigation.     

Multiwavelength observations of the impulsive flare of November 19, 1990

We present the observation and interpretation of a solar radio burst whose evolution of the source position at 48 GHz has been correlated with microwave spectral observations from 3.1 to 19.6 GHz and H imaging spectrograms. The event of November 19, 1990 showed 4 impulsive peaks in microwaves and 2 H kernels. There exists strong evidence that the impulsive emission has originated from nonthermal electrons including an electron beam during the rising phase of the third microwave peak. The complex evolution of the source position at 48 GHz is attributed to two inhomogeneous and spatially separated sources with changing relative brightness.