Evidence for the Formation of a Large-Scale Current Sheet in a Solar Flare

Details Evidence for the Formation of a Large-Scale Current Sheet in a Solar Flare Evidence for the Formation of a Large-Scale Current Sheet in a Solar Flare

Oct 2003

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003apj...596l.251s&link_type=abstract

The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 596, Issue 2, pp. L251-L254.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

130

Sun: Flares, Sun: X-Rays, Gamma Rays

Scientific paper

We present X-ray evidence for the formation of a large-scale current sheet in a flare observed by the Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager on 2002 April 15. The flare occurred on the northwest limb, showing a cusp-shaped flare loop in the rise phase. When the impulsive rise in hard X-rays (>25 keV) began, the cusp part of the coronal source separated from the underlying flare loop and remained stationary for about 2 minutes. During this time, the underlying flare loops shrank at ~9 km s-1. The temperature of the underlying loops increased toward higher altitudes, while the temperature of the coronal source increased toward lower altitudes. These results indicate that a current sheet formed between the top of the flare loops and the coronal source during the early impulsive phase. After the hard X-ray peak, the flare loops grew outward at ~8 km s-1, and the coronal source moved outward at ~300 km s-1, indicating an upward expansion of the current sheet. About 30 minutes later, postflare loops seen in the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) EUV Imaging Telescope 195 Å passband rose at ~10 km s-1. A large coronal looplike structure, observed by the SOHO Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph C2 and C3 detectors, also propagated outward at ~300 km s-1. These observations are all consistent with the continued expansion of the current sheet.

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