First detection of &gt;100 MeV gamma-rays associated with a behind-the-limb solar flare

Pesce-Rollins, Melissa; Omodei, Nicola; Petrosian, V.; Liu, Wei; Costa, Fatima Rubio da; Allafort, A.; Chen, Qingrong

doi:10.1088/2041-8205/805/2/L15

First detection of >100 MeV gamma-rays associated with a behind-the-limb solar flare

Journal Article · Thu May 28 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · The Astrophysical Journal. Letters (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/805/2/L15· OSTI ID:1355159

^[1]; ^[2]; ^[2]; ^[2]; ^[2]; Allafort, A. ^[2]; Chen, Qingrong ^[2]

Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Pisa (Italy); Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States). SLAC National Accelerator Lab.
Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States). SLAC National Accelerator Lab.

Here, we report the first detection of >100 MeV gamma-rays associated with a behind-the-limb solar flare, which presents a unique opportunity to probe the underlying physics of high-energy flare emission and particle acceleration. On 2013 October 11 a GOES M1.5 class solar flare occurred ~9°.9 behind the solar limb as observed by STEREO-B. RHESSI observed hard X-ray (HXR) emission above the limb, most likely from the flare loop-top, as the footpoints were occulted. Surprisingly, the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) detected >100 MeV gamma-rays for ~30 minutes with energies up to 3 GeV. The LAT emission centroid is consistent with the RHESSI HXR source, but its uncertainty does not constrain the source to be located there. The gamma-ray spectra can be adequately described by bremsstrahlung radiation from relativistic electrons having a relatively hard power-law (PL) spectrum with a high-energy exponential cutoff, or by the decay of pions produced by accelerated protons and ions with an isotropic pitch-angle distribution and a PL spectrum with a number index of ~3.8. Furthermore, we show that high optical depths rule out the gamma-rays originating from the flare site and a high-corona trap model requires very unusual conditions, so a scenario in which some of the particles accelerated by the CME shock travel to the visible side of the Sun to produce the observed gamma-rays may be at work.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-76SF00515

OSTI ID:: 1355159

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 22518967

Journal Information:: The Astrophysical Journal. Letters (Online), Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal. Letters (Online) Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 805; ISSN 2041-8213

Publisher:: Institute of Physics (IOP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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