White-light Emission and Chromospheric Response by an X1.8-class Flare on 2012 October 23 |
|
Kyoko Watanabe Submitted: 2020-03-11 01:19
On 2012 October 23, a strong white-light emission, associated with an X1.8-class flare, was observed by the Solar Optical Telescope on board the Hinode satellite. White-light kernels were clearly observed along the Ca II H ribbons. RHESSI also observed hard X-ray emissions that were almost located on the white-light kernels. The total energy of the white-light emission was ~1027-28 erg s-1 and the total energy of the accelerated electrons was almost of the same order when we used 40 keV as the lower energy cutoff. The white-light emission appears to have originated from nonthermal electrons in these energies. Moreover, the EUV imaging spectrometer on board the Hinode satellite performed a raster scan over this flaring active region and the flare occurred during the scan. Over the white-light kernels, we observed redshifts of a few tens of km s-1 in Fe XII. It appears that these EUV responses originated from some accelerated electrons due to the solar flare and they are considered to be the source of the white-light emission. In fact, the electron density of the white-light kernels was less than 1012 cm-3, which is sufficiently low for nonthermal electrons to penetrate into the photosphere.
Authors: Kyoko Watanabe and Shinsuke Imada
Projects: GOES X-rays,Hinode/EIS,Hinode/SOT,RHESSI,SDO-AIA,SDO-HMI
|
Publication Status: The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 891, Issue 1, id.88 (8pp)
Last Modified: 2020-03-11 13:14
|
 
 
|
|
Characteristics that Produce White-Light Enhancements in Solar Flares Observed by Hinode/SOT |
|
Kyoko Watanabe Submitted: 2017-10-27 06:12
To understand the conditions that produce white-light (WL) enhancements in solar flares, a statistical analysis of visible continuum data as observed by Hinode/Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) was performed.
In this study, approximately 100 flare events from M- and X-class flares were selected.
The time period during which the data were recorded spans from January 2011 to February 2016.
Of these events, approximately half are classified as white-light flares (WLFs), whereas the remaining events do not show any enhancements of the visible continuum (non-WLF; NWL).
In order to determine the existence of WL emission, running difference images of not only the Hinode/SOT WL (G-band, blue, green, and red filter) data but also the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager continuum data are used.
A comparison between these two groups of WL data in terms of duration, temperature, emission measure of GOES soft X-rays, distance between EUV flare ribbons, strength of hard X-rays, and photospheric magnetic field strength was undertaken.
In this statistical study, WLF events are characterized by a shorter time-scale and shorter ribbon distance compared with NWL events.
From the scatter plots of the duration of soft X-rays and the energy of non-thermal electrons, a clear distinction between WLF and NWL events can be made.
It is found that the precipitation of large amounts of accelerated electrons within a short time period plays a key role in generating WL enhancements.
Finally, it was demonstrated that the coronal magnetic field strength in the flare region is one of the most important factors that allow the individual identification of WLF events from NWL events.
Authors: Kyoko Watanabe, Jun Kitagawa, Satoshi Masuda
Projects: GOES X-rays,Hinode/SOT,RHESSI,SDO-HMI
|
Publication Status: accepted for publication in ApJ
Last Modified: 2017-10-27 10:44
|
 
 
|
|
Emission Height and Temperature Distribution of White-Light Emission Observed by Hinode/SOT from the 2012 January 27 X-class Solar Flare |
|
Kyoko Watanabe Submitted: 2013-10-08 07:42
White-light emissions were observed from an X1.7 class solar flare on 2012 January 27, using three continuum bands (red, green, and blue) of the Solar Optical Telescope on board the Hinode satellite. This event occurred near the solar limb, and so differences in the locations of the various emissions are consistent with differences in heights above the photosphere of the various emission sources. Under this interpretation, our observations are consistent with the white-light emissions occurring at the lowest levels of where the Ca II H emission occurs. Moreover, the centers of the source regions of the red, green, and blue wavelengths of the white-light emissions are significantly displaced from each other, suggesting that those respective emissions are emanating from progressively lower heights in the solar atmosphere. The temperature distribution was also calculated from the white-light data, and we found the lower-layer emission to have a higher temperature. This indicates that high-energy particles penetrated down to near the photosphere, and deposited heat into the ambient lower layers of the atmosphere.
Authors: Kyoko Watanabe, Toshifumi Shimizu, Satoshi Masuda, Kiyoshi Ichimoto, and Masanori Ohno
Projects: Hinode/SOT
|
Publication Status: Published in ApJ, 776, 123 (2013)
Last Modified: 2013-10-09 12:17
|
 
 
|
|
G-band and Hard X-ray Emissions of the 2006 December 14 flare observed by Hinode/SOT and RHESSI |
|
Kyoko Watanabe Submitted: 2010-04-26 19:53
We report on G-band emission observed by the Solar Optical Telescope onboard the Hinode satellite in association with the X1.5-class flare on 2006 December 14. The G-band enhancements originate from the footpoints of flaring coronal magnetic loops, coinciding with non-thermal hard X-ray bremsstrahlung sources observed by the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager. At the available 2 minute cadence, the G-band and hard X-ray intensities are furthermore well correlated in time. Assuming that the G-band enhancements are continuum emission from a blackbody, we derived the total radiative losses of the white-light flare (white-light power). If the G-band enhancements additionally have a contribution from lines, the derived values are overestimates. We compare the white-light power with the power in hard X-ray producing electrons using the thick target assumption. Independent of the cutoff energy of the accelerated electron spectrum, the white-light power and the power of accelerated electrons are roughly proportional. Using the observed upper limit of ~30 keV for the cutoff energy, the hard X-ray producing electrons provide at least a factor of 2 more power than needed to produce the white-light emission. For electrons above 40 keV, the powers roughly match for all four of the time intervals available during the impulsive phase. Hence, the flare-accelerated electrons contain enough energy to produce the white-light flare emissions. The observed correlation in time, space, and power strongly suggests that electron acceleration and white-light production in solar flares are closely related. However, the results also call attention to the inconsistency in apparent source heights of the hard X-ray (chromosphere) and white-light (upper photosphere) sources.
Authors: Kyoko Watanabe, Säm Krucker, Hugh Hudson, Toshifumi Shimizu, Satoshi Masuda, Kiyoshi Ichimoto
Projects: Hinode/SOT,RHESSI
|
Publication Status: ApJ (in press)
Last Modified: 2010-04-27 07:50
|
 
 
|
|
|
Key
|
 | Go to main E-Print page. |
 | Download Preprint. |
 | Submitters Homepage. |
 | Edit Entry. |
 | Delete abstract. |
|
|
|