No Arabic abstract
We investigate triggering, activation, and ejection of a solar eruptive prominence that occurred in a multi-polar flux system of active region NOAA 11548 on 2012 August 18 by analyzing data from AIA on board SDO, RHESSI, and EUVI/SECCHI on board STEREO. Prior to the prominence activation, we observed striking coronal activities in the form of a blowout jet which is associated with rapid eruption of a cool flux rope. Further, the jet-associated flux rope eruption underwent splitting and rotation during its outward expansion. These coronal activities are followed by the prominence activation during which it slowly rises with a speed of ~12 km/s while the region below the prominence emits gradually varying EUV and thermal X-ray emissions. From these observations, we propose that the prominence eruption is a complex, multi-step phenomenon in which a combination of internal (tether-cutting reconnection) and external (i.e., pre-eruption coronal activities) processes are involved. The prominence underwent catastrophic loss of equilibrium with the onset of the impulsive phase of an M1.8 flare suggesting large-scale energy release by coronal magnetic reconnection. We obtained signatures of particle acceleration in the form of power law spectra with hard electron spectral index (delta ~ 3) and strong HXR footpoint sources. During the impulsive phase, a hot EUV plasmoid was observed below the apex of the erupting prominence that ejected in the direction of the prominence with a speed of ~177 km/s. The temporal, spatial and kinematic correlations between the erupting prominence and the plasmoid imply that the magnetic reconnection supported the fast ejection of prominence in the lower corona.
In this paper, we present a multi-wavelength analysis of an eruptive white-light M3.2 flare which occurred in active region NOAA 10486 on November 1, 2003. Excellent set of high resolution observations made by RHESSI and TRACE provide clear evidence of significant pre-flare activities for ~9 minutes in the form of an initiation phase observed at EUV/UV wavelengths followed by the X-ray precursor phase. During the initiation phase, we observed localized brightenings in the highly sheared core region close to the filament and interactions among short EUV loops overlying the filament which led to the opening of magnetic field lines. The X-ray precursor phase is manifested in RHESSI measurements below ~30 keV and coincided with the beginning of flux emergence at the flaring location along with early signatures of the eruption. From the RHESSI observations, we conclude that both plasma heating and electron acceleration occurred during the precursor phase. The main flare is consistent with the standard flare model. However, after the impulsive phase, intense HXR looptop source was observed without significant footpoint emission. More intriguingly, for a brief period the looptop source exhibited strong HXR emission with energies up to 100 keV and significant non-thermal characteristics. The present study indicates a causal relation between the activities in the preflare and main flare. We also conclude that pre-flare activities, occurred in the form of subtle magnetic reorganization along with localized magnetic reconnection, played a crucial role in destabilizing the active region filament leading to solar eruptive flare and associated large-scale phenomena.
Coronal jets are ubiquitous in active regions (ARs) and coronal holes. In this paper, we study a coronal jet related to a C3.4 circular-ribbon flare in active region 12434 on 2015 October 16. Two minifilaments were located under a 3D fan-spine structure before flare. The flare was generated by the eruption of one filament. The kinetic evolution of the jet was divided into two phases: a slow rise phase at a speed of $sim$131 km s$^{-1}$ and a fast rise phase at a speed of $sim$363 km s$^{-1}$ in the plane-of-sky. The slow rise phase may correspond to the impulsive reconnection at the breakout current sheet. The fast rise phase may correspond to magnetic reconnection at the flare current sheet. The transition between the two phases occurred at $sim$09:00:40 UT. The blueshifted Doppler velocities of the jet in the Si {sc iv} 1402.80 {AA} line range from -34 to -120 km s$^{-1}$. The accelerated high-energy electrons are composed of three groups. Those propagating upward along open field generate type textrm{III} radio bursts, while those propagating downward produce HXR emissions and drive chromospheric condensation observed in the Si {sc iv} line. The electrons trapped in the rising filament generate a microwave burst lasting for $le$40 s. Bidirectional outflows at the base of jet are manifested by significant line broadenings of the Si {sc iv} line. The blueshifted Doppler velocities of outflows range from -13 to -101 km s$^{-1}$. The redshifted Doppler velocities of outflows range from $sim$17 to $sim$170 km s$^{-1}$. Our multiwavelength observations of the flare-related jet are in favor of the breakout jet model and are important for understanding the acceleration and transport of nonthermal electrons.
Solar flares are one of the most energetic events in the solar atmosphere. It is widely accepted that flares are powered by magnetic reconnection in the corona. An eruptive flare is usually accompanied by a coronal mass ejection, both of which are probably driven by the eruption of a magnetic flux rope (MFR). Here we report an eruptive flare on 2016 March 23 observed by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. The extreme-ultraviolet imaging observations exhibit the clear rise and eruption of an MFR. In particular, the observations reveal solid evidence for magnetic reconnection from both the corona and chromosphere during the flare. Moreover, weak reconnection is observed before the start of the flare. We find that the preflare weak reconnection is of tether-cutting type and helps the MFR to rise slowly. Induced by a further rise of the MFR, strong reconnection occurs in the rise phases of the flare, which is temporally related to the MFR eruption. We also find that the magnetic reconnection is more of 3D-type in the early phase, as manifested in a strong-to-weak shear transition in flare loops, and becomes more 2D-like in the later phase, as shown by the apparent rising motion of an arcade of flare loops.
Deriving a well-constrained differential emission measure (DEM) distribution for solar flares has historically been difficult, primarily because no single instrument is sensitive to the full range of coronal temperatures observed in flares, from $lesssim$2 to $gtrsim$50 MK. We present a new technique, combining extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectra from the EUV Variability Experiment (EVE) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory with X-ray spectra from the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI), to derive, for the first time, a self-consistent, well-constrained DEM for jointly-observed solar flares. EVE is sensitive to ~2-25 MK thermal plasma emission, and RHESSI to $gtrsim$10 MK; together, the two instruments cover the full range of flare coronal plasma temperatures. We have validated the new technique on artificial test data, and apply it to two X-class flares from solar cycle 24 to determine the flare DEM and its temporal evolution; the constraints on the thermal emission derived from the EVE data also constrain the low-energy cutoff of the non-thermal electrons, a crucial parameter for flare energetics. The DEM analysis can also be used to predict the soft X-ray flux in the poorly-observed ~0.4-5 nm range, with important applications for geospace science.
An X1.6 flare occurred in AR 12192 on 2014 October 22 at 14:02 UT and was observed by Hinode, IRIS, SDO, and RHESSI. We analyze a bright kernel which produces a white light (WL) flare with continuum enhancement and a hard X-ray (HXR) peak. Taking advantage of the spectroscopic observations of IRIS and Hinode/EIS, we measure the temporal variation of the plasma properties in the bright kernel in the chromosphere and corona. We found that explosive evaporation was observed when the WL emission occurred, even though the intensity enhancement in hotter lines is quite weak. The temporal correlation of the WL emission, HXR peak, and evaporation flows indicate that the WL emission was produced by accelerated electrons. To understand the white light emission process, we calculated the energy flux deposited by non- thermal electrons (observed by RHESSI) and compared it to the dissipated energy estimated from a chromospheric line (Mg II triplet) observed by IRIS. The deposited energy flux from the non-thermal electrons is about 3 ~ 7.7 X 10^(10) erg cm^(-2) s^(-1) for a given low energy cut-off of 30 ~ 40 keV, assuming the thick target model. The energy flux estimated from the temperature changes in the chromosphere measured using the Mg II subordinate line is about 4.6 - 6.7 X 10(9) erg cm^(-2) s^(-1): ~6-22% of the deposited energy. This comparison of estimated energy fluxes implies that the continuum enhancement was directly produced by the non-thermal electrons.