Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010aas...21640424l&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #216, #404.24; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.903
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
The flare on 2004-Feb-26, well observed by RHESSI and TRACE, showed evidence of non-thermal electrons only for a brief, early phase. The main period of energy release was characterized by a super-hot (T>30 MK) plasma emitting thermal brehmsstralung atop the flare loops. We present a model for the heating and compression of such a source by shocks generated following localized, transient magnetic reconnection. The model is an unsteady, three-dimensional generalization of the Petschek model whereby Alfven-speed retraction following reconnection drives supersonic inflows parallel to the field lines. These inflows form shocks heating, compressing and confining a looptop plasma plug. The confining inflows provide longer life than a freely expanding or conductively cooling plasma of similar size and temperature. Superposition of successive transient episodes of localized reconnection across a current sheet produces an apparently persistent, localized source of high-temperature emission. This new model predicts temperatures and emission measure consistent with the observations of 2004-Feb-26. Furthermore, the total energy released by the flare is found to be roughly consistent with that predicted by the model. Only a small fraction of the energy released appears in the super-hot source at any one time, but roughly a quarter of the flare energy is thermalized by the reconnection shocks over the course of the flare.
This work was supported by NASA and NSF.
Carranza-Fulmer T.
Des Jardins Angela
Longcope Dana
Qiu Jianwei
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