Physics
Scientific paper
Mar 1987
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987natur.326..165c&link_type=abstract
Nature (ISSN 0028-0836), vol. 326, March 12, 1987, p. 165, 166. Research supported by the Lockheed Independent Research Program.
Physics
28
Magnetohydrodynamic Flow, Momentum Theory, Solar Flares, X Ray Spectra, Chromosphere, Coronal Loops, Doppler Effect, H Alpha Line, Solar Maximum Mission
Scientific paper
A unique combination of SMM X-ray spectra and Sacramento Peak Observatory H-alpha imaging spectra has been used, for the first time, to measure and compare momentum values of upflowing and downflowing plasmas during the impulsive phase of a solar flare. The well-known blue asymmetry of X-ray spectral lines, indicative of upflow, was observed in the coronal Ca XIX line. The red asymmetry of H-alpha line profiles, indicative of downflow, was simultaneously observed in bright H-alpha kernels. It is found that, to within observational uncertainty, the momentum transported by the upflowing X-ray plasma was the same as that of the downflowing H-alpha material. Of the several physical mechanisms advanced to explain the observed blue asymmetry of X-ray lines, only explosive chromospheric evaporation predicts oppositely directed momenta of equal magnitude.
Canfield Richard C.
Metcalf Thomas R.
Strong Keith Temple
Zarro Dominic M.
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