Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2011-05-13
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 725, Issue 2, pp. L161-L166; 2010 December 20
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
8 pages, 4 figures, 1 table
Scientific paper
10.1088/2041-8205/725/2/L161
We use RHESSI high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy observations from ~5 to 100 keV to characterize the hot thermal plasma during the 2002 July 23 X4.8 flare. These measurements of the steeply falling thermal X-ray continuum are well fit throughout the flare by two distinct isothermal components: a super-hot (T > 30 MK) component that peaks at ~44 MK and a lower-altitude hot (T < 25 MK) component whose temperature and emission measure closely track those derived from GOES measurements. The two components appear to be spatially distinct, and their evolution suggests that the super-hot plasma originates in the corona, while the GOES plasma results from chromospheric evaporation. Throughout the flare, the measured fluxes and ratio of the Fe and Fe-Ni excitation line complexes at ~6.7 and ~8 keV show a close dependence on the super-hot continuum temperature. During the pre-impulsive phase, when the coronal thermal and non-thermal continua overlap both spectrally and spatially, we use this relationship to obtain limits on the thermal and non-thermal emission.
Caspi Amir
Lin Robert P.
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