Observations of Thermal Flare Plasma with the EUV Variability Experiment

One of the defining characteristics of a solar flare is the impulsive formation of very high temperature plasma. The properties of the thermal emission are not well understood, however, and the analysis of solar flare observations is often predicated on the assumption that the flare plasma is isothermal. The EUV Variability Experiment (EVE) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) provides spectrally resolved observations of emission lines that span a wide range of temperatures (e.g., Fe XV-Fe XXIV) and allow for thermal flare plasma to be studied in detail. In this paper we describe a method for computing the differential emission measure distribution in a flare using EVE observations and apply it to several representative events. We find that in all phases of the flare the differential emission measure distribution is broad. Comparisons of EVE spectra with calculations based on parameters derived from the GOES soft X-ray fluxes indicate that the isothermal approximation is generally a poor representation of the thermal structure of a flare.

Doppler Shift, Intensity, and Density Oscillations Observed with the EUV Imaging Spectrometer on Hinode

Low-amplitude Doppler-shift oscillations have been observed in coronal emission lines in a number of active regions with the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on the Hinode satellite. Both standing and propagating waves have been detected and many periods have been observed, but a clear picture of all the wave modes that might be associated with active regions has not yet emerged. In this study, we examine additional observations obtained with EIS in plage near an active region on 2007 August 22--23. We find Doppler-shift oscillations with amplitudes between 1 and 2 km/s in emission lines ranging from Fe XI 188.23 Angstroms, which is formed at log T = 6.07 to Fe XV 284.16 Angstroms, which is formed at log T = 6.32. Typical periods are near 10 minutes. We also observe intensity and density oscillations for some of the detected Doppler-shift oscillations. In the better-observed cases, the oscillations are consistent with upwardly propagating slow magnetoacoustic waves. Simultaneous observations of the Ca II H line with the Hinode Solar Optical Telescope Broadband Filter Imager show some evidence for 10-minute oscillations as well.

Observations of Solar Doppler Shift Oscillations with the EUV Imaging Spectrometer on Hinode

Damped Doppler shift oscillations have been observed in emission lines from ions formed at flare temperatures with the Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation spectrometer on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory and with the Bragg Crystal Spectrometer on Yohkoh. This Letter reports the detection of low-amplitude damped oscillations in coronal emission lines formed at much lower temperatures observed with the EUV Imaging Spectrometer on the Hinode satellite. The oscillations have an amplitude of about 2 km/s, and a period of around 35 min. The decay times show some evidence for a temperature dependence with the lowest temperature of formation emission line (Fe XII 195.12 Angstroms) exhibiting a decay time of about 43 min, while the highest temperature of formation emission line (Fe XV 284.16 Angstroms) shows no evidence for decay over more than two periods of the oscillation. The data appear to be consistent with slow magnetoacoustic standing waves, but may be inconsistent with conductive damping.

Observation and Modeling of Coronal Moss With the EUV Imaging Spectrometer on Hinode

Observations of transition region emission in solar active regions represent a powerful tool for determining the properties of hot coronal loops. In this Letter we present the analysis of new observations of active region moss taken with the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on the textit{Hinode} mission. We find that the intensities predicted by steady, uniformly heated loop models are too intense relative to the observations, consistent with previous work. To bring the model into agreement with the observations a filling factor of about 16% is required. Furthermore, our analysis indicates that the filling factor in the moss is nonuniform and varies inversely with the loop pressure.

Hinode EUV Imaging Spectrometer Observations of Solar Active Region Dynamics

The EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on the Hinode satellite is capable of measuring emission line center positions for Gaussian line profiles to a fraction of a spectral pixel, resulting in relative solar Doppler-shift measurements with an accuracy of less than a km/s for strong lines. We show an example of the application of that capability to an active region sit-and-stare observation in which the EIS slit is placed at one location on the Sun and many exposures are taken while the spacecraft tracking keeps the same solar location within the slit. For the active region examined (NOAA 10930), we find that significant intensity and Doppler-shift fluctuations as a function of time are present at a number of locations. These fluctuations appear to be similar to those observed in high-temperature emission lines with other space-borne spectroscopic instruments. With its increased sensitivity over earlier spectrometers and its ability to image many emission lines simultaneously, EIS should provide significant new constraints on Doppler-shift oscillations in the corona.