Heavy Ions From the 6 November 1997 sep Event: a Charge-Consistent Acceleration Model

Based on the observed dependence of the mean charge of several elements (C, O, Ne, Mg, Si and Fe) on energy for the gradual event of 6 November 1997 we deduce plasma parameters in the accelerating site. This is done in the framework of a charge-consistent acceleration model which incorporates ionisation and recombination processes during heavy ion energization by a parallel shock wave. To obtain good fits to observations we have to assume for the product of the characteristic acceleration time and number density T^q_acN (3–10) ×10⁹ s cm^–3 and temperature T=10⁶ K of a plasma where all the elements under consideration originated.