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Register a new userA Monster CME Obscuring A Demon Star Flare
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Sofia-Paraskevi Moschou
Publication date
2017
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
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We explore the scenario of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) being the cause of the observed continuous X-ray absorption of the August 30 1997 superflare on the eclipsing binary Algol (the Demon Star). The temporal decay of the absorption is consistent with absorption by a CME undergoing self-similar evolution with uniform expansion velocity. We investigate the kinematic and energetic properties of the CME using the ice-cream cone model for its three-dimensional structure in combination with the observed profile of the hydrogen column density decline with time. Different physically justified length scales were used that allowed us to estimate lower and upper limits of the possible CME characteristics. Further consideration of the maximum available magnetic energy in starspots leads us to quantify its mass as likely lying in the range $2times 10^{21}$-$2times 10^{22}$ g and kinetic energy in the range $7times 10^{35}$-$3times 10^{38}$ erg. The results are in reasonable agreement with extrapolated relations between flare X-ray fluence and CME mass and kinetic energy derived for solar CMEs.
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Solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are closely coupled through magnetic reconnection. CMEs are usually accelerated impulsively within the low solar corona, synchronized with the impulsive flare energy release. We investigate the dynamic evolution of a fast CME and its associated X2.8 flare occurring on 2013 May 13. The CME experiences two distinct phases of enhanced acceleration, an impulsive one with a peak value of ~5 km s$^{-2}$ followed by an extended phase with accelerations up to 0.7 km s$^{-2}$. The two-phase CME dynamics is associated with a two-episode flare energy release. While the first episode is consistent with the standard eruption of a magnetic flux rope, the second episode of flare energy release is initiated by the reconnection of a large-scale loop in the aftermath of the eruption and produces stronger nonthermal emission up to $gamma$-rays. In addition, this long-duration flare reveals clear signs of ongoing magnetic reconnection during the decay phase, evidenced by extended HXR bursts with energies up to 100--300 keV and intermittent downflows of reconnected loops for >4 hours. The observations reveal that the two-step flare reconnection substantially contributes to the two-phase CME acceleration, and the impulsive CME acceleration precedes the most intense flare energy release. The implications of this non-standard flare/CME observation are discussed.
Solar active regions (ARs) are the major sources of two kinds of the most violent solar eruptions, namely flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The largest AR in the past 24 years, NOAA AR 12192, crossed the visible disk from 2014 October 17 to 30, unusually produced more than one hundred flares, including 32 M-class and 6 X-class ones, but only one small CME. Flares and CMEs are believed to be two phenomena in the same eruptive process. Why is such a flare-rich AR so CME-poor? We compared this AR with other four ARs; two were productive in both and two were inert. The investigation of the photospheric parameters based on the SDO/HMI vector magnetogram reveals that the flare-rich AR 12192, as the other two productive ARs, has larger magnetic flux, current and free magnetic energy than the two inert ARs, but contrast to the two productive ARs, it has no strong, concentrated current helicity along both sides of the flaring neutral line, indicating the absence of a mature magnetic structure consisting of highly sheared or twisted field lines. Furthermore, the decay index above the AR 12192 is relatively low, showing strong constraint. These results suggest that productive ARs are always large and have enough current and free energy to power flares, but whether or not a flare is accompanied by a CME is seemingly related to (1) if there is mature sheared or twisted core field serving as the seed of the CME, (2) if the constraint of the overlying arcades is weak enough.
We investigate the relationship between the main acceleration phase of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and the particle acceleration in the associated flares as evidenced in RHESSI non-thermal X-rays for a set of 37 impulsive flare-CME events. CME peak velocity and peak acceleration yield distinct correlations with various parameters characterizing the flare-accelerated electron spectra. The highest correlation coefficient is obtained for the relation of the CME peak velocity and the total energy in accelerated electrons (c = 0.85), supporting the idea that the acceleration of the CME and the particle acceleration in the associated flare draw their energy from a common source, probably magnetic reconnection in the current sheet behind the erupting structure. In general, the CME peak velocity shows somewhat higher correlations with the non-thermal flare parameters than the CME peak acceleration, except for the spectral index of the accelerated electron spectrum which yields a higher correlation with the CME peak acceleration (c = -0.6), indicating that the hardness of the flare-accelerated electron spectrum is tightly coupled to the impulsive acceleration process of the rising CME structure. We also obtained high correlations between the CME initiation height $h_0$ and the non-thermal flare parameters, with the highest correlation of $h_0$ to the spectral index of flare-accelerated electrons (c = 0.8). This means that CMEs erupting at low coronal heights, i.e. in regions of stronger magnetic fields, are accompanied with flares which are more efficient to accelerate electrons to high energies. In the majority of events (80%), the non-thermal flare emission starts after the CME acceleration (6 min), giving a current sheet length at the onset of magnetic reconnection of 21 pm 7 Mm. The flare HXR peaks are well synchronized with the peak of the CME acceleration profile.
Magnetic reconnection plays an integral part in nearly all models of solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The reconnection heats and accelerates the plasma, produces energetic electrons and ions, and changes the magnetic topology to form magnetic flux ropes and allow CMEs to escape. Structures that appear between flare loops and CME cores in optical, UV, EUV and X-ray observations have been identified as current sheets and interpreted in terms of the nature of the reconnection process and the energetics of the events. Many of these studies have used UV spectral observations of high temperature emission features in the [Fe XVIII] and Si XII lines. In this paper we discuss several surprising cases in which the [Fe XVIII] and Si XII emission peaks are spatially offset from each other. We discuss interpretations based on asymmetric reconnection, on a thin reconnection region within a broader streamer-like structure, and on projection effects. Some events seem to be easily interpreted as projection of a sheet that is extended along the line of sight that is viewed an angle, but a physical interpretation in terms of asymmetric reconnection is also plausible. Other events favor an interpretation as a thin current sheet embedded in a streamer-like structure.
Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are often accompanied by coronal dimming evident in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft X-ray observations. The locations of dimming are sometimes considered to map footpoints of the erupting flux rope. As the emitting material expands in the corona, the decreased plasma density leads to reduced emission observed in spectral and irradiance measurements. Therefore, signatures of dimming may reflect properties of CMEs in the early phase of its eruption. In this study, we analyze the event of flare, CME, and coronal dimming on December 26, 2011. We use the data from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on Solar Dynamics Observatories (SDO) for disk observations of the dimming, and analyze images taken by EUVI, COR1, and COR2 onboard the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatories to obtain the height and velocity of the associated CMEs observed at the limb. We also measure magnetic reconnection rate from flare observations. Dimming occurs in a few locations next to the flare ribbons, and it is observed in multiple EUV passbands. Rapid dimming starts after the onset of fast reconnection and CME acceleration, and its evolution well tracks the CME height and flare reconnection. The spatial distribution of dimming exhibits cores of deep dimming with a rapid growth, and their light curves are approximately linearly scaled with the CME height profile. From the dimming analysis, we infer the process of the CME expansion, and estimate properties of the CME.
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