General aspects of hard X-ray flares observed by Hinotori: Gradual burst and impulsive burst

We survey here the observational results on five gradual and four impulsive type events from the hard X-ray imaging (SXT) and spectrometer (HXM) instruments on the Hinotori satellite. A set of differences are clearly recognized between the gradual and impulsive type bursts. These are: (1) Hard X-ray images show the existence of a large coronal source for each gradual burst and a wide variety of source structures for impulsive bursts. (2) The source heights of the impulsive bursts appear to be low. (3) All gradual bursts show power-law spectra while impulsive bursts show exponential thermal spectra at least before the maximum phase. (4) Energy-dependent peak delays are observed only in gradual bursts. From these differences we suggest that two different acceleration and emission mechanisms are involved with these two kinds of hard X-ray bursts.     

Rapid sunspot motion during a major solar flare

A major solar flare on 15 November, 1991 produced a striking perturbation in the position and shape of the sunspot related most closely to the flare. We have studied these perturbations by use of the aspect-sensor images from the Soft X-ray Telescope on board YOHKOH, and with ground-based data from the Mees Solar Observatory. The perturbation occurred during the impulsive phase of the flare, with a total displacement on the order of 1 arc sec. The apparent velocity of approximately 2 km s^–1 exceeds that typically reported for sunspot proper motions even in flare events. We estimate that the magnetic energy involved in displacing the sunspot amounted to less than 4 × 10³⁰ ergs, comparable to the radiant energy from the perturbed region. Examination of the Mees Observatory data shows that the spot continued moving at lower speed for a half-hour after the impulsive phase. The spot perturbation appears to have been a result of the coronal restructuring and flare energy release, rather than its cause.     

Time variations of hard X-ray bursts observed with the Solar X-ray Telescope aboard Hinotori (with a movie)

We have developed a new method for synthesizing hard X-ray maps from the raw data of the Solar X-ray Telescope (SXT) aboard Hinotori. Using this method we analyzed five typical SXT events and summarized their images in a movie with a time resolution of about 8 s (half spin period of the satellite). The movie clearly shows that (1) three different classes of bursts, i.e., the gradual thermal burst, the multiple impulsive burst, and the extended outburst, have different structures and show quite different variations from each other, and that (2) the source of the extended outburst is located in the corona above 10⁴ km and its shape appears to be a large loop.     

Coronal-Temperature-Diagnostic Capability of?the?Hinode/X-Ray Telescope Based on Self-Consistent Calibration

The X-Ray Telescope (XRT) onboard the Hinode satellite is an X-ray imager that observes the solar corona with unprecedentedly high angular resolution (consistent with its 1?? pixel size). XRT has nine X-ray analysis filters with different temperature responses. One of the most significant scientific features of this telescope is its capability of diagnosing coronal temperatures from less than 1 MK to more than 10 MK, which has never been accomplished before. To make full use of this capability, accurate calibration of the coronal temperature response of XRT is indispensable and is presented in this article. The effect of on-orbit contamination is also taken into account in the calibration. On the basis of our calibration results, we review the coronal-temperature-diagnostic capability of XRT.     

The Hinode Spectro-Polarimeter

The joint Japan/US/UK Hinode mission includes the first large-aperture visible-light solar telescope flown in space. One component of the Focal Plane Package of that telescope is a precision spectro-polarimeter designed to measure full Stokes spectra with the intent of using those spectra to infer the magnetic-field vector at high precision in the solar photosphere. This article describes the characteristics of the flight hardware of the Hinode Spectro-Polarimeter, and summarizes its in-flight performance.     

The Soft X-ray Telescope for the SOLAR-A mission

The Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) of the SOLAR-A mission is designed to produce X-ray movies of flares with excellent angular and time resolution as well as full-disk X-ray images for general studies. A selection of thin metal filters provide a measure of temperature discrimination and aid in obtaining the wide dynamic range required for solar observing. The co-aligned SXT aspect telescope will yield optical images for aspect reference, white-light flare and sunspot studies, and, possibly, helioseismology. This paper describes the capabilities and characteristics of the SXT for scientific observing.After the launch the name of SOLAR-A has been changed to YOHKOH.     

Response of the Solar Atmosphere to the Emergence of ‘Serpentine’ Magnetic Field

Active region magnetic flux that emerges to the photosphere from below will show complexity in the structure, with many small-scale fragmented features appearing in between the main bipole and then disappearing. Some fragments seen will be absorbed into the main polarities and others seem to cancel with opposite magnetic field. In this paper we investigate the response of the corona to the behaviour of these small fragments and whether energy through reconnection will be transported into the corona. In order to investigate this we analyse data from the Hinode space mission during flux emergence on 1?–?2 December 2006. At the initial stages of flux emergence several small-scale enhancements (of only a few pixels size) are seen in the coronal line widths and diffuse coronal emission exists. The magnetic flux emerges as a fragmented structure, and coronal loops appear above these structures or close to them. These loops are large-scale structures – most small-scale features predominantly stay within the chromosphere or at the edges of the flux emergence. The most distinctive feature in the Doppler velocity is a strong ring of coronal outflows around the edge of the emerging flux region on the eastern side which is either due to reconnection or compression of the structure. This feature lasts for many hours and is seen in many wavelengths. We discuss the implications of this feature in terms of the onset of persistent outflows from an active region that could contribute to the slow solar wind.     

Polarization Calibration of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha SpectroPolarimeter</Emphasis> for a 0.1% Polarization Sensitivity in the VUV Range. Part II: In-Flight Calibration

The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha SpectroPolarimeter is a sounding rocket instrument designed to measure for the first time the linear polarization of the hydrogen Lyman-\({\upalpha }\) line (121.6 nm). The instrument was successfully launched on 3 September 2015 and observations were conducted at the solar disc center and close to the limb during the five-minutes flight. In this article, the disc center observations are used to provide an in-flight calibration of the instrument spurious polarization. The derived in-flight spurious polarization is consistent with the spurious polarization levels determined during the pre-flight calibration and a statistical analysis of the polarization fluctuations from solar origin is conducted to ensure a 0.014% precision on the spurious polarization. The combination of the pre-flight and the in-flight polarization calibrations provides a complete picture of the instrument response matrix, and a proper error transfer method is used to confirm the achieved polarization accuracy. As a result, the unprecedented 0.1% polarization accuracy of the instrument in the vacuum ultraviolet is ensured by the polarization calibration.     

Impulsive and hot thermal solar flares

Solar Physics - Some X-class flares (hot thermal flares, HTF) observed with the Hinotori satellite show unique behavior: slow time variability, a compact hard X-ray source containing dense (n...     

Vertical structure of hard X-ray flare

This paper presents studies of the vertical structure of hard X-ray flares for two contrasting examples. The 1981 May 13 flare contained a coronal hard X-ray source which was located above 50000 km above the photosphere. On the other hand, the 1981 July 20 flare had a chromospheric double source structure in the initial phase. Electrons in this case were able to stream freely from the corona to the chromosphere.