Rapid acceleration of energetic particles in the 1982 February 8 solar flare

Journal Article · Wed Jan 15 04:00:00 EST 1986 · Astrophys. J., Lett. Ed.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/184610· OSTI ID:5936778

Kane, S R; Chupp, E L; Forrest, D J; Share, G H; Rieger, E

Hard x-ray and gamma-ray measurements of the 1982 February 8 (approx. 1250 UT) solar flare made with spectrometers aboard the ISEE 3 and SMM spacecraft show that bursts of photons from approx.40 keV to approx.40 MeV are coincident to within +- 1 s. This indicates that the acceleration of particles to relativistic velocities can occur promptly (within approx.1 s). As far as the energetic particles interacting at the Sun are concerned, the ''two-phase'' process, which requires several minutes for particle acceleration to relativistic velocities, cannot account for the present gamma-ray observations. Even the ''two-step'' acceleration process, which is assumed to occur in a small magnetic loop, is severely constrained by the present observations.

• Research Organization: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley
• OSTI ID: 5936778
• Journal Information: Astrophys. J., Lett. Ed.; (United States), Journal Name: Astrophys. J., Lett. Ed.; (United States) Vol. 300:2; ISSN AJLEA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640104* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Solar Phenomena
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ACCELERATION
COSMIC PHOTONS
COSMIC RADIATION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ENERGY RANGE
GAMMA RADIATION
HARD X RADIATION
IONIZING RADIATIONS
MAIN SEQUENCE STARS
MASSLESS PARTICLES
PHOTONS
RADIATIONS
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
SOLAR ACTIVITY
SOLAR FLARES
SOLAR PARTICLES
SOLAR RADIATION
STARS
STELLAR RADIATION
SUN
VELOCITY
X RADIATION