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Title: PRE-FLARE ACTIVITY AND MAGNETIC RECONNECTION DURING THE EVOLUTIONARY STAGES OF ENERGY RELEASE IN A SOLAR ERUPTIVE FLARE

Abstract

In this paper, we present a multi-wavelength analysis of an eruptive white-light M3.2 flare that occurred in active region NOAA 10486 on 2003 November 1. The excellent set of high-resolution observations made by RHESSI and the TRACE provides clear evidence of significant pre-flare activities for {approx}9 minutes in the form of an initiation phase observed at EUV/UV wavelengths followed by an 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 {approx}30 keV and coincided with the beginning of flux emergence at the flaring location along with early signatures of the eruption. The RHESSI observations reveal 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, an intense hard X-ray (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 {approx}50-100 keV and significant non-thermal characteristics. The presentmore » study indicates a causal relation between the activities in the pre-flare and the main flare. We also conclude that pre-flare activities, occurring in the form of subtle magnetic reorganization along with localized magnetic reconnection, played a crucial role in destabilizing the active region filament, leading to a solar eruptive flare and associated large-scale phenomena.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3]; ;  [4];  [5]
  1. Udaipur Solar Observatory, Physical Research Laboratory, Udaipur 313 001 (India)
  2. IGAM/Institute of Physics, University of Graz, A-8010 Graz (Austria)
  3. Physics Department, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102 (United States)
  4. Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Daejeon 305-348 (Korea, Republic of)
  5. Max-Planck-Institut fuer Sonnensystemforschung, 37191 Katlenburg-Lindau (Germany)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22004384
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 743; Journal Issue: 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; ACCELERATION; ERUPTION; FLARING; GAMMA RADIATION; HARD X RADIATION; MAGNETIC FIELDS; MAGNETIC RECONNECTION; PLASMA HEATING; SOLAR CORONA; SOLAR FLARES; SUN

Citation Formats

Joshi, Bhuwan, Veronig, Astrid M, Lee, Jeongwoo, Bong, Su-Chan, Cho, Kyung-Suk, and Tiwari, Sanjiv Kumar. PRE-FLARE ACTIVITY AND MAGNETIC RECONNECTION DURING THE EVOLUTIONARY STAGES OF ENERGY RELEASE IN A SOLAR ERUPTIVE FLARE. United States: N. p., 2011. Web. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/743/2/195.
Joshi, Bhuwan, Veronig, Astrid M, Lee, Jeongwoo, Bong, Su-Chan, Cho, Kyung-Suk, & Tiwari, Sanjiv Kumar. PRE-FLARE ACTIVITY AND MAGNETIC RECONNECTION DURING THE EVOLUTIONARY STAGES OF ENERGY RELEASE IN A SOLAR ERUPTIVE FLARE. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/743/2/195
Joshi, Bhuwan, Veronig, Astrid M, Lee, Jeongwoo, Bong, Su-Chan, Cho, Kyung-Suk, and Tiwari, Sanjiv Kumar. 2011. "PRE-FLARE ACTIVITY AND MAGNETIC RECONNECTION DURING THE EVOLUTIONARY STAGES OF ENERGY RELEASE IN A SOLAR ERUPTIVE FLARE". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/743/2/195.
@article{osti_22004384,
title = {PRE-FLARE ACTIVITY AND MAGNETIC RECONNECTION DURING THE EVOLUTIONARY STAGES OF ENERGY RELEASE IN A SOLAR ERUPTIVE FLARE},
author = {Joshi, Bhuwan and Veronig, Astrid M and Lee, Jeongwoo and Bong, Su-Chan and Cho, Kyung-Suk and Tiwari, Sanjiv Kumar},
abstractNote = {In this paper, we present a multi-wavelength analysis of an eruptive white-light M3.2 flare that occurred in active region NOAA 10486 on 2003 November 1. The excellent set of high-resolution observations made by RHESSI and the TRACE provides clear evidence of significant pre-flare activities for {approx}9 minutes in the form of an initiation phase observed at EUV/UV wavelengths followed by an 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 {approx}30 keV and coincided with the beginning of flux emergence at the flaring location along with early signatures of the eruption. The RHESSI observations reveal 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, an intense hard X-ray (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 {approx}50-100 keV and significant non-thermal characteristics. The present study indicates a causal relation between the activities in the pre-flare and the main flare. We also conclude that pre-flare activities, occurring in the form of subtle magnetic reorganization along with localized magnetic reconnection, played a crucial role in destabilizing the active region filament, leading to a solar eruptive flare and associated large-scale phenomena.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-637X/743/2/195},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22004384}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {0004-637X},
number = 2,
volume = 743,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Dec 20 00:00:00 EST 2011},
month = {Tue Dec 20 00:00:00 EST 2011}
}