Statistical Properties of Hot Thermal Plasmas in M/X Flares Using RHESSI Fe & Fe/Ni Line and Continuum Observations

Details Statistical Properties of Hot Thermal Plasmas in M/X Flares Using RHESSI Fe & Fe/Ni Line and Continuum Observations Statistical Properties of Hot Thermal Plasmas in M/X Flares Using RHESSI Fe & Fe/Ni Line and Continuum Observations

May 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007aas...210.9318c&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society Meeting 210, #93.18; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.214

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Observations by the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) have shown that "super-hot" (T > ˜30 MK) thermal plasmas are a common feature of (large) flares of GOES class M or X. However, the origins and evolution of such super-hot plasmas are still poorly understood. RHESSI observes solar photons >3 keV with a spectral resolution of ˜1 keV FWHM, and is especially sensitive to emission from flare plasmas hotter than ˜10 MK. RHESSI's rich data set allows an unprecedented level of analysis of thermal flare plasma through imaging and spectroscopic observations of the thermal bremsstrahlung X-ray continuum above ˜3 keV and the Fe and Fe/Ni line complexes at ˜6.7 and ˜8 keV. Accurately characterizing the thermal plasma provides information about flare heating and cooling mechanisms and improves our understanding of flare energy transport and release. We present first results of a statistical survey of hot thermal plasmas in RHESSI-observed M/X-class flares, utilizing a newly-developed analytical method to compare the thermal continuum and Fe & Fe/Ni line emission (Caspi & Lin 2007). We present flare energetics and temperature distributions and discuss the implications for the origins of super-hot thermal plasmas.

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