Thermal structure of current sheets and supra-arcade downflows in the solar corona
After the peak intensity of many large solar flares, magnetic and thermodynamic processes give rise to a phenomenon known as supra-arcade downflows (SADs). SADs are sunward flowing density depletions, often observed in post-flare plasma sheets. Some models have suggested that the plasma in the dark lanes is heated to temperatures of 20-80 MK, which is much hotter than temperatures of the surrounding plasma. In this work, we use data from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on the Solar Dynamics Observatory and the X-Ray Telescope on the Hinode satellite to determine the thermal structure of SADs in the solar corona. We examine four flares that took place on 2011 October 22, 2012 January 14, 2012 January 16, and 2012 January 27. Differential emission measures are calculated for each flare and we compare the temperatures in the SADs to those of the surrounding plasma. We find that the SADs are hotter than the background, but cooler than the surrounding plasma in most cases, with only 1 out of the 11 SADs examined here having a slightly higher temperature than its surroundings.
- OSTI ID:
- 22356957
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 786, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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