A solar flare X-ray polarimeter for the space shuttle

We have recently built and tested an instrument designed to measure the polarization of the hard (5–30 keV) X-ray emission from solar flares, and thereby to investigate the energy release mechanism and constrain flare models. In particular, these measurements will help to determine whether hard X-ray bursts are produced by nonthermal or by thermal electrons. The polarimeter makes use of the angular dependence of Thomson scattering from targets of metallic lithium. It has an energy resolution of a few keV, a time resolution of 5 s, and sufficient sensitivity to measure polarization levels (3) of a few percent in about 10 s for a moderate strength solar flare. The instrumental polarization has been directly measured and found to be within the design goal of 1%. This polarimeter is scheduled to be flown as part of the OSS-1 pallet on an early Space Shuttle mission.     

Modelling a solar flare from X-ray,UV, and radio observations

A slowly evolving, flaring loop was observed by the UVSP, XRP, and HXIS instruments onboard SMM on June 10, 1980. Simultaneous radio observations from Toyokawa (Japan) are also available. The SMM instruments have an angular resolution ranging from 3 to 30 arc sec by which the loop structure may be determined. It appears that these observations cannot be accounted for by a single loop model even assuming a variable temperature and pressure. The additional presence of a hot and tenuous isothermal plasma is necessary to explain the harder emission (HXIS). X-ray and UV data are used to fit the differential emission measure as a function of temperature and a model of the flare is deduced, which is then checked against radio data. An estimate of the heating function along the loop and of the total energy content of the loop is also given.     

Puzzles and potential for gamma-ray line observations of solar flare ion acceleration

The best tool for understanding ion acceleration in solar flares is gamma-ray line emission from nuclear de-excitation, positron annihilation, and neutron capture. These techniques have not yet come close to reaching their potential due to limited counting statistics in the lines. Instruments with focusing optics and large effective areas promise real breakthroughs in understanding high-energy solar processes. I discuss what can be learned from the various lines and the instrumental requirements for future focusing observations.“Mama always told me not to look into the sights of the Sun; oh, but mama, that’s where the fun is...” [1]     

Solar neutron observations and their relation to solar flare acceleration problems

We review the current observational knowledge on the production of neutrons in association with solar flares. From a study of the observations it is shown that unique information can be obtained on the spectral properties of accelerated ions produced during the flare. Also, the abundance of ³He/H in the photosphere can be directly determined. We also review the current interpretations of all available neutron observations and in particular highlight the uncertainties, and provide guide posts for future experiments.     

Direct observations of a flare related coronal and solar wind disturbance

Numerous mass ejections from the Sun have been detected with orbiting coronagraphs. Here for the first time we document and discuss the direct association of a coronagraph observed mass ejection, which followed a 2B flare, with a large interplanetary shock wave disturbance observed at 1 AU. Estimates of the mass (2.4 × 10¹⁶ g) and energy content (1.1 × 10³² erg) of the coronal disturbance are in reasonably good agreement with estimates of the mass and energy content of the solar wind disturbance at 1 AU. The energy estimates as well as the transit time of the disturbance are also in good agreement with numerical models of shock wave propagation in the solar wind.     

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.     

Prospects for solar flare X-ray polarimetry

The history of solar flare X-ray polarimetry is reviewed and it is shown that as yet, there is no experimental evidence for such polarization. The present experimental limits are at the level of a few percent but these results may be biased by a large thermal component at low energies which may decrease the apparent polarization. To avoid this difficulty it will be necessary to make observations at higher energies where thermal emission is less important.The theoretical estimates of the polarization expected in the solar flare are also reviewed. The best present theoretical estimates are in the range of a few percent and are consistent with the present experimental limits.In this paper we discuss a new satellite instrument that has sufficient sensitivity at high energies to detect the polarization that is predicted by the present theories. The instrument sensitivity for a moderate (M class) event approaches polarization levels of 1% in each of 7 energy bins spanning the 10 to 100 keV range for integration times as short as 10 s. Comparable results can be obtained for an X class flare in 1 s.Presidential Young Investigator.     

Laboratory solar flare experiments

Several laboratory experiments on magnetic field line reconnection are briefly reviewed. Emphasis is placed on the double inverse pinch device (DIPD) in which magnetic flux is built up during a quiescent reconnection phase and then abruptly transferred during an impulsive reconnection phase. Scaling estimates show that this impulsive phase corresponds to a solar release of 10³⁰ ergs in 10² seconds with the production of GeV potentials. The trigger for the impulsive flare is a conduction mode instability (ion-acoustic) which abruptly changes the resistance of the neutral point region when the reconnection current density reaches a critical value.Some results are presented from another reconnection device which has exactly antiparallel fields at the boundaries. This flat plate device develops one x-type neutral point rather than tearing into many neutral points. The reconnection rate is more quiescent than in the DIPD. A mild conduction mode instability occurs. The results suggest that regions with flattened boundary fields may not be as conducive to flares as regions with more curved fields.     

A solar flare videometer

A new instrument, called a videometer, has been developed to measure solar flare area, peak intensity and integrated intensity in real time. The videometer uses a closed circuit television system to convert an optical H image into electrical signals for measurement. Observations of two Class I flares with the videometer are discussed.     

A classification scheme for solar flare models

We present a classification scheme for solar flare models that utilize magnetic free energycurrents. The classification scheme is geometry independent and delineates models into two categories: those models utilizing currents flowing parallel to B and those utilizing currents flowing perpendicular to B. This delineation of drivers allows us to specify what kinds of plasma-magnetic field configurations should be expected for a given current driver. Further, the delineation of drivers will allow us to identify both the strengths and the weaknesses of the various models.Based on invited talks given at the SERF Workshop (Aug. 13, 1979) and the IAU Meeting of Commission 10 (Aug. 15, 1979) held in Montreal.     

DeepSun:machine-learning-as-a-service for solar flare prediction

Solar flare prediction plays an important role in understanding and forecasting space weather.The main goal of the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager(HMI), one of the instruments on NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, is to study the origin of solar variability and characterize the Sun's magnetic activity.HMI provides continuous full-disk observations of the solar vector magnetic field with high cadence data that lead to reliable predictive capability; yet, solar flare prediction effort utilizing these data is still limited. In this paper, we present a machine-learning-as-a-service(MLaa S) framework, called Deep Sun,for predicting solar flares on the web based on HMI's data products. Specifically, we construct training data by utilizing the physical parameters provided by the Space-weather HMI Active Region Patch(SHARP)and categorize solar flares into four classes, namely B, C, M and X, according to the X-ray flare catalogs available at the National Centers for Environmental Information(NCEI). Thus, the solar flare prediction problem at hand is essentially a multi-class(i.e., four-class) classification problem. The Deep Sun system employs several machine learning algorithms to tackle this multi-class prediction problem and provides an application programming interface(API) for remote programming users. To our knowledge, Deep Sun is the first MLaa S tool capable of predicting solar flares through the internet.     

Solar flare observations from a pair of matched instruments

A pair of carefully matched telescopes and videometers were constructed and tested to determine their suitability to obtain routine standardized measurements of solar flares. Useful data were obtained from both telescopes during four flares between March 1971 and March 1972. Errors in the current international patrol are typically a factor of two. The mismatch of the areas of the four measured by these telescope systems was only 10%, indicating the extent of the possible improvement to be obtained by careful matching and intercalibration of patrol instruments.     

The dependence of solar flare energetics on flare volumes

Solar X-ray flare images from Skylab and data from full Sun detectors were used in a statistical analysis to determine the relationship between flare volumes and flare energetics. Data from the rise phases of 45 flares were used in the analysis. For each event the diameter D, length L, and volume V of the flare loops were determined and then compared to the thermal energy, rate of increase of thermal energy, and rise time of the soft X-ray flux. The latter three quantities were all found to be positively correlated with D, L, and V. However, the thermal energy per unit volume and rate of increase of thermal energy per unit volume decrease with increasing volume. No correlation was found between emission measure Y and volume V, indicating that the electron density tends to be smaller for larger flare volumes. We find a larger dynamic range for V than for Y, hence knowledge of V is more critical than that of Y for calculating the thermal energy of the X-ray emitting structure, which is proportional to Y ^0.5 V ^0.5. Using certain assumptions, the results were compared to several flare models. The classical neutral sheet model, the sheared loop model of Spicer and even models using the magnetic field in a passive role for the energy release were all found to be consistent with the results.     

Solar flare hard X-ray observations

Recent hard X-ray observations of solar flares are reviewed with emphasis on results obtained with instruments on the Solar Maximum Mission satellite. Flares with three different sets of characteristics, designated as Type A, Type B, and Type C, are discussed and hard X-ray temporal, spatial, spectral, and polarization measurements are reviewed in this framework. Coincident observations are reviewed at other wavelengths including the UV, microwaves, and soft X-rays, with discussions of their interpretations. In conclusion, a brief outline is presented of the potential of future hard X-ray observations with sub-second time resolution, arcsecond spatial resolution, and keV energy resolution, and polarization measurements at the few percent level up to 100 keV.     

X-ray and microwave emissions from the July 19, 2012 solar flare: Highly accurate observations and kinetic models

The M7.7 solar flare of July 19, 2012, at 05:58 UT was observed with high spatial, temporal, and spectral resolutions in the hard X-ray and optical ranges. The flare occurred at the solar limb, which allowed us to see the relative positions of the coronal and chromospheric X-ray sources and to determine their spectra. To explain the observations of the coronal source and the chromospheric one unocculted by the solar limb, we apply an accurate analytical model for the kinetic behavior of accelerated electrons in a flare. We interpret the chromospheric hard X-ray source in the thick-target approximation with a reverse current and the coronal one in the thin-target approximation. Our estimates of the slopes of the hard X-ray spectra for both sources are consistent with the observations. However, the calculated intensity of the coronal source is lower than the observed one by several times. Allowance for the acceleration of fast electrons in a collapsing magnetic trap has enabled us to remove this contradiction. As a result of our modeling, we have estimated the flux density of the energy transferred by electrons with energies above 15 keV to be ～5 × 10¹⁰ erg cm^?2 s^?1, which exceeds the values typical of the thick-target model without a reverse current by a factor of ～5. To independently test the model, we have calculated the microwave spectrum in the range 1–50 GHz that corresponds to the available radio observations.     

Cooling of solar flare plasmas

A simple model for the cooling of solar flare plasmas is considered. This model predicts that an increase in emission measure with decreasing temperature is a general feature of a cooling flare. The results are compared to solar flare data.     

On the reconciliation of simultaneous microwave imaging and hard X-ray observations of a solar flare

We have compared microwave imaging data for a small flare with simultaneous hard X-ray spectral observations. The X-ray data suggest that the power-law index of the energy distribution of the radiating electrons is 5.3 (thick-target) which differs significantly from the estimate ( = 1.4) from a homogeneous optically-thin gyrosynchrotron model which fits the radio observations well. In order to reconcile these results, we explore a number of options. We investigate a double power-law energy spectrum for the energetic electrons in the flare, as assumed by other authors: the power law is steep at low energies and much flatter at the higher energies which produce the bulk of the microwaves. The deduced break energy is about 230 keV if we tentatively ignore the X-ray emission from the radio-emitting electrons: however, the emission of soft photons by the flat tail strongly contributes to the observed hard X-ray range and would flatten the spectrum there. A thin-target model for the X-ray emission is also inconsistent with radio data. An inhomogeneous gyrosynchrotron model with a number of free parameters and containing an electron distribution given by the thick-target X-ray model could be made to fit the radio data.