No Arabic abstract
We study the dynamics and evolution of a C2.3 two-ribbon flare, developed on 2002 August 11, during the impulsive and the long gradual phase. To this end we obtained multiwavelength observations using the CDS spectrometer aboard SOHO, facilities at the NSO/Sacramento Peak, and the TRACE and RHESSI spacecrafts. CDS spectroheliograms in the Fe XIX, Fe XVI, O V and He I lines allows us to determine the velocity field at different heights/temperatures during the flare and to compare them with the chromospheric velocity fields deduced from H alpha image differences. TRACE images in the 17.1 nm band greatly help in determining the morphology and the evolution of the flaring structures. During the impulsive phase a strong blue-shifted Fe XIX component (-200 km/s) is observed at the footpoints of the flaring loop system, together with a red-shifted emission of O V and He I lines (20 km/s). In one footpoint simultaneous H alpha data are also available and we find, at the same time and location, downflows with an inferred velocity between 4 and 10 km/s. We also verify that the instantaneous momenta of the oppositely directed flows detected in Fe XIX and H alpha are equal within one order of magnitude. These signatures are in general agreement with the scenario of explosive chromospheric evaporation. Combining RHESSI and CDS data after the coronal upflows have ceased, we prove that, independently from the filling factor, an essential contribution to the density of the post-flare loop system is supplied from evaporated chromospheric material. Finally, we consider the cooling of this loop system, that becomes successively visible in progressively colder signatures during the gradual phase. We show that the observed cooling behaviour can be obtained assuming a coronal filling factor between 0.2 and 0.5.
We present observations of a powerful solar eruption, accompanied by an X8.2 solar flare, from NOAA Active Region 12673 on 2017 September 10 by the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) on the GOES-16 spacecraft. SUVI is noteworthy for its relatively large field of view, which allows it to image solar phenomena to heights approaching 2 solar radii. These observations include the detection of an apparent current sheet associated with magnetic reconnection in the wake of the eruption and evidence of an extreme-ultraviolet wave at some of the largest heights ever reported. We discuss the acceleration of the nascent coronal mass ejection to approximately 2000 km/s at about 1.5 solar radii. We compare these observations with models of eruptions and eruption-related phenomena. We also describe the SUVI data and discuss how the scientific community can access SUVI observations of the event.
We present AIA observations of a structure we interpret as a current sheet associated with an X4.9 flare and coronal mass ejection that occurred on 2014~February~25 in NOAA Active Region 11990. We characterize the properties of the current sheet, finding that the sheet remains on the order of a few thousand km thick for much of the duration of the event and that its temperature generally ranged between $8-10,mathrm{MK}$. We also note the presence of other phenomena believed to be associated with magnetic reconnection in current sheets, including supra-arcade downflows and shrinking loops. We estimate that the rate of reconnection during the event was $M_{A} approx 0.004-0.007$, a value consistent with model predictions. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this event for reconnection-based eruption models.
Prominence eruption is closely related to coronal mass ejections and is an important topic in solar physics. Spectroscopic observation is an effective way to explore the plasma properties, but the spectral observations of eruptive prominences are rare. In this paper we will introduce an eruptive polar crown prominence with spectral observations from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), and try to explain some phenomena that are rarely reported in previous works. The eruptive prominence experiences a slow-rise and fast-rise phase, while the line-of-sight motions of the prominence plasma could be divided into three periods: two hours before the fast-rise phase, opposite Doppler shifts are found at the two sides of the prominence axis;then, red shifts dominate the prominence gradually; in the fast-rise phase, the prominence gets to be blue-shifted. During the second period, a faint component appears in Mg II k window with a narrow line width and a large red shift. A faint region is also found in AIA 304-angstrom images along the prominence spine, and the faint region gets darker during the expansion of the spine. We propose that the opposite Doppler shifts in the first period is a feature of the polar crown prominence that we studied. The red shifts in the second period is possibly due to mass drainage during the elevation of the prominence spine, which could accelerate the eruption in return. The blue shifts in the third period is due to that the prominence erupts toward the observer. We suggest that the faint component appears due to the decreasing of the plasma density, and the latter results from the expansion of the prominence spine.
Impulsive solar energetic particle events are widely believed to be due to the prompt escape into the interplanetary medium of flare-accelerated particles produced by solar eruptive events. According to the standard model for such events, however, particles accelerated by the flare reconnection should remain trapped in the flux rope comprising the coronal mass ejection. The particles should reach the Earth only much later, along with the bulk ejecta. To resolve this paradox, we have extended our previous axisymmetric model for the escape of flare-accelerated particles to fully three-dimensional (3D) geometries. We report the results of magnetohydrodynamic simulations of a coronal system that consists of a bipolar active region embedded in a background global dipole field structured by solar wind. Our simulations show that multiple magnetic reconnection episodes occur prior to and during the CME eruption and its interplanetary propagation. In addition to the episodes that build up the flux rope, reconnection between the open field and the CME couples the closed corona to the open interplanetary field. Flare-accelerated particles initially trapped in the CME thereby gain access to the open interplanetary field along a trail blazed by magnetic reconnection. A key difference between these 3D results and our previous calculations is that the interchange reconnection allows accelerated particles to escape from deep within the CME flux-rope. We estimate the spatial extent of the particle-escape channels. The relative timings between flare acceleration and release of the energetic particles through CME/open-field coupling are also determined. All our results compare favourably with observations.
Solar flare termination shocks have been suggested as one of the viable mechanisms for accelerating electrons and ions to high energies. Observational evidence of such shocks, however, remains rare. Using radio dynamic spectroscopic imaging of a long-duration C1.9 flare obtained by the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), Chen et al. (2015) suggested that a type of coherent radio bursts, referred to as stochastic spike bursts, were radio signatures of nonthermal electrons interacting with myriad density fluctuations at the front of a flare termination shock. Here we report another stochastic spike burst event recorded during the extended energy release phase of a long-duration M8.4-class eruptive flare on 2012 March 10. VLA radio spectroscopic imaging of the spikes in 1.0--1.6 GHz shows that similar to the case of Chen et al. (2015), the burst centroids form an extended, ~10-long structure in the corona. By combining extreme-ultraviolet imaging observations of the flare from two vantage points with hard X-ray and ultraviolet observations of the flare ribbon brightenings, we reconstruct the flare arcade in three dimensions. The results show that the spike source is located at ~60 Mm above the flare arcade, where a diffuse supra-arcade fan and multitudes of plasma downflows are present. Although the flare arcade and ribbons seen during the impulsive phase do not allow us to clearly understand how the observed spike source location is connected to the flare geometry, the cooling flare arcade observed two hours later suggests that the spikes are located in the above-the-loop-top region, where a termination shock presumably forms.