您选择的条件: M. D. Ding
  • An approximate recipe of chromospheric radiative losses for solar flares

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Radiative losses in the chromosphere are very important in the energy balance. There have been efforts to make simple lookup tables for chromospheric radiative losses in the quiet Sun. During solar flares, the atmospheric conditions are quite different, and the currently available recipe of Gan & Fang (1990) is constructed from semi-empirical models. It remains to be evaluated how these recipes work in flare conditions. We aim to construct an approximate recipe of chromospheric radiative losses for solar flares. We follow the method of Carlsson & Leenaarts (2012) to tabulate the optically thin radiative loss, escape probability, and ionization fraction, while using a grid of flare models from radiative hydrodynamic simulations as our dataset. We provide new lookup tables to calculate chromospheric radiative losses for flares. Compared with previous recipes, our recipe provides a better approximation to the detailed radiative losses for flares.

  • Extreme-ultraviolet Late Phase in Homologous Solar Flares from a Complex Active Region

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Recent observations in extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths reveal a new late phase in some solar flares, which is seen as a second peak in warm coronal emissions ($\sim3$ MK) several tens of minutes to a few hours after the soft X-ray (SXR) peak. The origin of the EUV late phase (ELP) is explained by either a long-lasting cooling process in the long ELP loops, or a delayed energy ejection into the ELP loops well after the main flare heating. Using the observations with the \emph{Solar Dynamics Observatory} (\emph{SDO}), we investigate the production of the ELP in six homologous flares (F1--F6) originating from a complex active region (AR) NOAA 11283, with an emphasis on the emission characteristics of the flares. It is found that the main production mechanism of the ELP changes from additional heating in flare F1 to long-lasting cooling in flares F3--F6, with both mechanisms playing a role in flare F2. The transition is evidenced by an abrupt decrease of the time lag of the ELP peak, and the long-lasting cooling process in the majority of the flares is validated by a positive correlation between the flare ribbon fluence and the ELP peak intensity. We attribute the change in ELP production mechanism to an enhancement of the envelope magnetic field above the AR, which facilitates a more prompt and energetic heating of the ELP loops. In addition, the last and the only confined flare F6 exhibits an extremely large ELP. The different emission pattern revealed in this flare may reflect a different energy partitioning inside the ELP loops, which is due to a different magnetic reconnection process.

  • Multi-wavelength and Dual-perspective Observations of Eruption and Untwisting of Two Homologous Magnetic Flux Ropes

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: In this paper, we present a detailed morphological, kinematic, and thermal analysis of two homologous magnetic flux ropes (MFRs) from NOAA 11515 on 2012 July 8--9. The study is based on multi-wavelength and dual-perspective imaging observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory and the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory Ahead spacecraft, which can well reveal the structure and evolution of the two MFRs. We find that both of the MFRs show up in multiple passbands and their emissions mainly consist of a cold component peaking at a temperature of $\sim$0.4--0.6 MK and a hot component peaking at $\sim$7--8 MK. The two MFRs exhibit erupting, expanding, and untwisting motions that manifest distinctive features from two different viewpoints. Their evolution can be divided into two stages, a fast-eruption stage with speeds of about 105--125 km s$^{-1}$ for MFR-1 and 50--65 km s$^{-1}$ for MFR-2 and a slow-expansion (or untwisting) stage with speeds of about 10--35 km s$^{-1}$ for MFR-1 and 10--30 km s$^{-1}$ for MFR-2 in the plane of sky. We also find that during the two-stage evolution, the high temperature features mainly appear in the interface region between MFRs and ambient magnetic structures and also in the center of MFRs, which suggests that some heating processes take place in such places like magnetic reconnection and plasma compression. These observational results indicate that the eruption and untwisting processes of MFRs are coupled with the heating process, among which an energy conversion exists.

  • Diagnosing the Optically Thick/Thin Features Using the Intensity Ratio of Si IV Resonance Lines in Solar Flares

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: In the optically thin regime, the intensity ratio of the two Si IV resonance lines (1394 and 1403 \AA\ ) are theoretically the same as the ratio of their oscillator strengths, which is exactly 2. Here, we study the ratio of the integrated intensity of the Si IV lines ($R=\int I_{1394}(\lambda)\mathrm{d}\lambda/\int I_{1403}(\lambda)\mathrm{d}\lambda$) and the ratio of intensity at each wavelength point ($r(\Delta\lambda)=I_{1394}(\Delta\lambda)/I_{1403}(\Delta\lambda)$) in two solar flares observed by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph. We find that at flare ribbons, the ratio $R$ ranges from 1.8 to 2.3 and would generally decrease when the ribbons sweep across the slit position. Besides, the distribution of $r(\Delta\lambda)$ shows a descending trend from the blue wing to the red wing. In loop cases, the Si IV line presents a wide profile with a central reversal. The ratio $R$ deviates little from 2, but the ratio $r(\Delta\lambda)$ can vary from 1.3 near the line center to greater than 2 in the line wings. Hence we conclude that in flare conditions, the ratio $r(\Delta\lambda)$ varies across the line, due to the variation of the opacity at the line center and line wings. We notice that, although the ratio $r(\Delta\lambda)$ could present a value which deviates from 2 as a result of the opacity effect near the line center, the ratio $R$ is still close to 2. Therefore, caution should be taken when using the ratio of the integrated intensity of the Si IV lines to diagnose the opacity effect.

  • Thermodynamic Evolution of Solar Flare Supra-arcade Downflows

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Solar flares are rapid energy release phenomena that appear as bright ribbons in the chromosphere and high-temperature loops in the corona, respectively. Supra-arcade Downflows (SADs) are plasma voids that first come out above the flare loops and then move quickly towards the flare loop top during the decay phase of the flare. In our work, we study 20 SADs appearing in three flares. By differential emission measure (DEM) analysis, we calculate the DEM weighted average temperature and emission measure (EM) of the front region and the main body of SADs. It is found that the temperatures of the SAD front and body tend to increase during the course of SADs flowing downwards. The relationship between the pressure and temperature fits well with the adiabatic equation for both the SAD front and body, suggesting that the heating of SADs is mainly caused by adiabatic compression. Moreover, we also estimate the velocities of SADs via the Fourier Local Correlation Tracking (FLCT) method and find that increase of the temperature of the SAD front presents a correlation with the decrease of the SAD kinetic energy, while the SAD body does not, implying that the viscous process may also heat the SAD front in spite of a limited role.

  • The Lyman-$\alpha$ Emission in a C1.4 Solar Flare Observed by the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager aboard Solar Orbiter

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: The hydrogen Lyman-$\alpha$ (H {\sc i} Ly$\alpha$) emission during solar flares has rarely been studied in spatially resolved images and its physical origin has not been fully understood. In this paper, we present novel Ly$\alpha$ images for a C1.4 solar flare (SOL2021-08-20T22:00) from the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager aboard Solar Orbiter, together with multi-waveband and multi-perspective observations from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory Ahead and the Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft. It is found that the Ly$\alpha$ emission has a good temporal correlation with the thermal emissions at 1--8 \AA\ and 5--7 keV, indicating that the flaring Ly$\alpha$ is mainly produced by a thermal process in this small event. However, nonthermal electrons play a minor role in generating Ly$\alpha$ at flare ribbons during the rise phase of the flare, as revealed by the hard X-ray imaging and spectral fitting. Besides originating from flare ribbons, the Ly$\alpha$ emission can come from flare loops, likely caused by plasma heating and also cooling that happen in different flare phases. It is also found that the Ly$\alpha$ emission shows fairly similar features with the He {\sc ii} 304 \AA\ emission in light curve and spatio-temporal variation along with small differences. These observational results improve our understanding of the Ly$\alpha$ emission in solar flares and also provide some insights for investigating the Ly$\alpha$ emission in stellar flares.

  • Evaluation of different recipes for chromospheric radiative losses in solar flares

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Context. Radiative losses are an indispensable part in the numerical simulation of flares. Detailed calculations could be computationally expensive, especially in the chromosphere. There have been some approximate recipes for chromospheric radiative losses in flares, yet their feasibility in flare simulations needs further evaluation. Aims. We aim to evaluate the performance of different recipes for chromospheric radiative losses in flare simulations. Methods. We compare the atmospheric structure and line profiles in beam-heated flares calculated with detailed radiative losses and the approximate recipes. Results. Both GF90 and HCD22 recipes provide acceptable total radiative losses compared with detailed one, but there are discrepancies in the different atmospheric layers during the different evolutionary phases, which leads to misestimations of temperature and line intensity. The recipe of GF90 overestimates the coolings in the upper chromosphere greatly when temperature exceeds 10^5 K, which also affects the flare evolution and line asymmetries. Radiative heating in the middle chromosphere only functions in the initial stage and could be safely neglected. However, radiative heating from Lyman continuum could dominate near the transition region.

  • Overexpansion-dominated Coronal Mass Ejection Formation and Induced Radio Bursts

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Aims. Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are the most fascinating explosion in the solar system; however, their formation is still not fully understood. Methods. Here, we investigate a well-observed CME on 2021 May 07 that showed a typical three-component structure and was continuously observed from 0 to 3 Rsun by a combination of SDO/AIA (0--1.3 Rsun), PROBA2/SWAP (0--1.7 Rsun) and MLSO/K-Cor (1.05--3 Rsun). Furthermore, we compare the morphological discrepancy between the CME white-light bright core and EUV blob. In the end, we explore the origin of various radio bursts closely related to the interaction of the CME overexpansion with nearby streamer. Results. An interesting finding is that the height increases of both the CME leading front and bright core are dominated by the overexpansion during the CME formation. The aspect ratios of the CME bubble and bright core, quantifying the overexpansion, are found to decrease as the SO/STIX 4--10 keV and GOES 1--8 A soft X-ray flux of the associated flare increases near the peaks, indicating an important role of the flare reconnection in the first overexpansion. The CME bubble even takes place a second overexpansion although relatively weak, which is closely related to the compression with a nearby streamer and likely arises from an ideal MHD process. Moreover, the CME EUV blob is found to be relatively lower and wider than the CME white-light bright core, may correspond to the bottom part of the growing CME flux rope. The interaction between the CME and the streamer leads to two type II radio bursts, one normally drifting and one stationary, which are speculated to be induced at two different sources of the CME-driven shock front. The bidirectional electrons evidenced by series of "C-shaped" type III bursts suggest that the interchange reconnection be also involved during the interaction of the CME and streamer.

  • Highly Energetic Electrons Accelerated in Strong Solar Flares as a Preferred Driver of Sunquakes

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Sunquakes are enhanced seismic waves excited in some energetic solar flares. Up to now, their origin has still been controversial. In this Letter, we select and study 20 strong flares in Solar Cycle 24, whose impulse phase is fully captured by the \emph{Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager} (\emph{RHESSI}). For 11 out of 12 sunquake-active flares in our sample, the hard X-ray (HXR) emission shows a good temporal and spatial correlation with the white-light (WL) enhancement and the sunquake. Spectral analysis also reveals a harder photon spectrum that extends to several hundred keV, implying a considerable population of flare-accelerated nonthermal electrons at high energies. Quantitatively, the total energy of electrons above 300 keV in sunquake-active flares is systematically different from that in sunquake-quiet flares, while the difference is marginal for electrons above 50 keV. All these facts support highly energetic electrons as a preferred driver of the sunquakes. Such an electron-driven scenario can be reasonably accommodated in the framework of a recently proposed selection rule for sunquake generation. For the remaining one event, the sunquake epicenter is cospatial with a magnetic imprint, i.e., a permanent change of magnetic field on the photosphere. Quantitative calculation shows that the flare-induced downward Lorentz force can do enough work to power the sunquake, acting as a viable sunquake driver for this specific event.

  • Revisiting the Spectral Features of Ellerman Bombs and UV Bursts. I. Radiative Hydrodynamic Simulations

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Ellerman bombs (EBs) and UV bursts are both small-scale solar activities that occur in active regions. They are now believed to form at different heights in the lower atmosphere. In this paper, we use one-dimensional radiative hydrodynamic simulations to calculate various line profiles in response to heating in different atmospheric layers. We confirm that heating in the upper photosphere to the lower chromosphere can generate spectral features of typical EBs, while heating in the mid to upper chromosphere can generate spectral features of typical UV bursts. The intensity evolution of the H$\alpha$ line wing in EBs shows a rise--plateau pattern, while that of the Si IV 1403 \r{A} line center in UV bursts shows a rise--fall pattern. However, the predicted enhancement of FUV continuum near 1400 \r{A} for EBs is rarely reported and requires further observations to check it. With two heating sources or an extended heating source in the atmosphere, both EB and UV burst features could be reproduced simultaneously.

  • Imaging and Spectroscopic Observations of the Dynamic Processes in Limb Solar Flares

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We investigate various dynamic processes including magnetic reconnection, chromospheric evaporation, and coronal rain draining in two limb solar flares through imaging and spectroscopic observations from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. In the early phase of the flares, a bright and dense loop-top structure with a cusp-like shape can be seen in multi-wavelength images, which is co-spatial with the hard X-ray 25--50 keV emission. In particular, intermittent magnetic reconnection downflows are detected in the time-space maps of AIA 304 {\AA}. The reconnection downflows are manifested as redshifts on one half of the loops and blueshifts on the other half in the IRIS Si {\sc iv} 1393.76 {\AA} line due to a projection effect. The Si {\sc iv} profiles exhibit complex features (say, multi-peak) with a relatively larger width at the loop-top region. During the impulsive phase, chromospheric evaporation is observed in both AIA images and the IRIS Fe {\sc xxi} 1354.08 {\AA} line. Upward motions can be seen from AIA 131 {\AA} images. The Fe {\sc xxi} line is significantly enhanced and shows a good Gaussian shape. In the gradual phase, warm rains are observed as downward moving plasmas in AIA 304 {\AA} images. Both the Si {\sc iv} and Fe {\sc xxi} lines show a relatively symmetric shape with a larger width around the loop top. These results provide observational evidence for various dynamic processes involved in and are crucial to understand the energy release process of solar flares.

  • Data-constrained Magnetohydrodynamic Simulation of a Long Duration Eruptive Flare

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We perform a zero-$\beta$ magnetohydrodynamic simulation for the C7.7 class flare initiated at 01:18 UT on 2011 June 21 using the Message Passing Interface Adaptive Mesh Refinement Versatile Advection Code (MPI-AMRVAC). The initial condition for the simulation involves a flux rope which we realize through the regularized Biot-Savart laws, whose parameters are constrained by observations from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUVI) on the twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO). This data-constrained initial state is then relaxed to a force-free state by the magneto-frictional module in MPI-AMRVAC. The further time-evolving simulation results reproduce the eruption characteristics obtained by SDO/AIA 94 A, 304 A, and STEREO/EUVI 304 A observations fairly well. The simulated flux rope possesses similar eruption direction, height range, and velocities to the observations. Especially, the two phases of slow evolution and fast eruption are reproduced by varying the density distribution in light of the filament material draining process. Our data-constrained simulations also show other advantages, such as a large field of view (about 0.76 solar radii). We study the twist of the magnetic flux rope and the decay index of the overlying field, and find that in this event, both the magnetic strapping force and the magnetic tension force are sufficiently weaker than the magnetic hoop force, thus allowing the successful eruption of the flux rope. We also find that the anomalous resistivity is necessary in keeping the correct morphology of the erupting flux rope.

  • Evaluation of different recipes for chromospheric radiative losses in solar flares

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Context. Radiative losses are an indispensable part in the numerical simulation of flares. Detailed calculations could be computationally expensive, especially in the chromosphere. There have been some approximate recipes for chromospheric radiative losses in flares, yet their feasibility in flare simulations needs further evaluation. Aims. We aim to evaluate the performance of different recipes for chromospheric radiative losses in flare simulations. Methods. We compare the atmospheric structure and line profiles in beam-heated flares calculated with detailed radiative losses and the approximate recipes. Results. Both GF90 and HCD22 recipes provide acceptable total radiative losses compared with detailed one, but there are discrepancies in the different atmospheric layers during the different evolutionary phases, which leads to misestimations of temperature and line intensity. The recipe of GF90 overestimates the coolings in the upper chromosphere greatly when temperature exceeds 10^5 K, which also affects the flare evolution and line asymmetries. Radiative heating in the middle chromosphere only functions in the initial stage and could be safely neglected. However, radiative heating from Lyman continuum could dominate near the transition region.

  • Highly Energetic Electrons Accelerated in Strong Solar Flares as a Preferred Driver of Sunquakes

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Sunquakes are enhanced seismic waves excited in some energetic solar flares. Up to now, their origin has still been controversial. In this Letter, we select and study 20 strong flares in Solar Cycle 24, whose impulse phase is fully captured by the \emph{Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager} (\emph{RHESSI}). For 11 out of 12 sunquake-active flares in our sample, the hard X-ray (HXR) emission shows a good temporal and spatial correlation with the white-light (WL) enhancement and the sunquake. Spectral analysis also reveals a harder photon spectrum that extends to several hundred keV, implying a considerable population of flare-accelerated nonthermal electrons at high energies. Quantitatively, the total energy of electrons above 300 keV in sunquake-active flares is systematically different from that in sunquake-quiet flares, while the difference is marginal for electrons above 50 keV. All these facts support highly energetic electrons as a preferred driver of the sunquakes. Such an electron-driven scenario can be reasonably accommodated in the framework of a recently proposed selection rule for sunquake generation. For the remaining one event, the sunquake epicenter is cospatial with a magnetic imprint, i.e., a permanent change of magnetic field on the photosphere. Quantitative calculation shows that the flare-induced downward Lorentz force can do enough work to power the sunquake, acting as a viable sunquake driver for this specific event.