S. W. Kahler

Prompt solar proton events and coronal mass ejections

We have used data from the HAO white light coronagraph and AS&E X-ray telescope on Skylab to investigate the coronal manifestations of 18 prompt solar proton events observed with the GSFC detectors on the IMP-7 spacecraft during the Skylab period. We find evidence that a mass ejection event is a necessary condition for the occurrence of a prompt proton event. Mass ejection events can be observed directly in the white light coronagraph when they occur near the limb and inferred from the presence of a long decay X-ray event when they occur on the disk. We suggest that: (1) the occurrence of mass ejection events facilitates the escape of protons - whether accelerated at low or high altitudes - to the interplanetary medium; and (2) there may exist a proton acceleration region above or around the outward moving ejecta far above the flare site.

Spatial structure and temporal development of a solar X-ray flare observed from Skylab on June 15, 1973

A solar flare on June 15, 1973 has been observed with high spatial and temporal resolution by the S-054 grazing-incidence X-ray telescope on Skylab. Both morphological and quantitative analyses are presented. Some of the main results are: (a) the overall configuration of the flare is that of a compact region with a characteristic size of the order of 30″ at the intensity peak, (b) this region appears highly structured inside with complex systems of loops which change during the event, (c) a brightening over an extended portion of the active region precedes the flare onset, (d) the impulsive phase indicated by the non-thermal radio emission is a period during which a rapid brightening occurs in loop structures, (e) the X-ray emission is centered over the neutral line of longitudinal magnetic field, and the brightest structures at the flare onset bridge the neutral line, (f) loop systems at successively increasing heights form during the decay phase, finally leading to the large loops observed in the postflare phase, (g) different parts of the flare show distinctly different light curves, and the temporal development given by full disk detectors is the result of integrating the different intensity vs time profiles.The implications of these observations for mechanisms of solar flares are discussed. In particular, the flux profiles of different regions of the flare give strong evidence for continued heating during the decay phase, and a multiplicity of flare volumes appears to be present, in all cases consisting of loops of varying lengths.

Characteristics of flares producing metric type II bursts and coronal mass ejections

We attempt to study the origin of coronal shocks by comparing several flare characteristics for two groups of flares: those with associated metric type II bursts and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and those with associated metric type II bursts but no CMEs. CMEs accompany about 60% of all flares with type II bursts for solar longitudes greater than 30°, where CMEs are well observed with the NRL Solwind coronagraph. Hα flare areas, 1–8 Å X-ray fluxes, and impulsive 3 cm fluxes are all statistically smaller for events with no CMEs than for events with CMEs. It appears that both compact and large mass ejection flares are associated with type II bursts. The events with no CMEs imply that at least many type II shocks are not piston-driven, but the large number of events of both groups with small 3 cm bursts does not support the usual assumption that type II shocks are produced by large energy releases in flare impulsive phases. The poor correlation between 3 cm burst fluxes and the occurrence of type II bursts may be due to large variations in the coronal Alfvén velocity.

Comparison of coronal holes observed in soft X-ray and He i 10 830 Å spectroheliograms

We compare coronal holes observed in solar soft X-ray images obtained with rocket-borne telescopes during 1974 to 1981 with holes observed on nearly simultaneous 10830 Å maps. Hole boundaries are frequently poorly defined, and after 1974 the brightness contrast between the large scale structure and holes appears substantially diminished in both X-rays and 10830 Å. We find good agreement between soft X-rays and 10830 Å for large area holes but poor agreement for mid and low latitude small area holes, which are generally of low contrast. These results appear inconsistent with the popular view that the quiet corona is sharply separated into open magnetic field regions consisting of coronal holes and closed field regions consisting of the large scale structure.

Determination of the energy or pressure of a solar X-ray structure using X-ray filtergrams from a single filter

While the X-ray fluxes measured through two different broadband filters can be used to derive the temperatures and emission measures of solar plasmas, it is generally assumed that no plasma parameters can be measured quantitatively with a single filtergram alone. We show that the thermal energy density (or pressure) of a solar plasma can be measured with an ideal single filtergram. Calculations have been done to compare the properties of the Skylab S-054 X-ray telescope filters to those of the ideal filter.

The GLE-associated flare of 21 August, 1979

We use a variety of ground-based and satellite measurements to identify the source of the ground level event (GLE) beginning near 06∶30 UT on 21 August, 1979 as the 2B flare with maximum at ∼06∶15 UT in McMath region 16218. This flare differed from previous GLE-associated flares in that it lacked a prominent impulsive phase, having a peak ∼9 GHz burst flux density of only 27 sfu and a ≳20 keV peak hard X-ray flux of ≲3 × 10-6 ergs cm-2s-1. Also, McMath 16218 was magnetically less complex than the active regions in which previous cosmic-ray flares have occurred, containing essentially only a single sunspot with a rudimentary penumbra. The flare was associated with a high speed (≳700 km s-1) mass ejection observed by the NRL white light coronagraph aboard P78-1 and a shock accelerated (SA) event observed by the low frequency radio astronomy experiment on ISEE-3.

Preflare characteristics of active regions observed in soft X-rays

X-ray images from the AS&E telescope on Skylab are used to investigate coronal conditions in solar active regions during the 20-min periods preceding the X-ray onsets of small flares. The preflare or precursor phase is defined as a phase with a characteristic length or time scale significantly different from that of the rise phase. We show that there is no observational evidence of a requirement for a coronal preflare heating phase with a time scale longer than 2 min for small flares characterized by one or two loops. In 18 out of 25 cases the flaring X-ray structure was not the brightest feature in the preflare active region. The electron densities are estimated for preflare loops.

A comparison of positions and sizes of sources of centimeter and X-ray bursts

We have made a parallel study of three cm-λ radio bursts, observed on 9 August, 1973 with the NRAO Operated by Associated Universities, Inc. under contract with the National Science Foundation. three-element interferometer at 3.7 and 11.1 cm and the associated X-ray flares observed with the S-054 telescope aboard Skylab. Within the errors of our measurements (± 5″) the radio and X-ray events are cospatial. We find good agreement between the size of the X-ray kernel and that of the core of the cm burst, while there is evidence that much of the impulsive radio flux was produced in a larger area.

Preflare X-ray morphology of active regions observed with the AS & E telescope on Skylab

Images from the AS & E X-ray telescope on Skylab were examined for evidence of a flare build-up during the 20 minute periods preceding eight small X-ray flares. In two cases no activity could be seen up to 2 min before the flare onset. In no case did a preflare brightening occur in and only in the region which flared.

The possible role of energetic electrons in the production of surges

Energetic electrons, which play a major role in the explosive phases of flares, are proposed as the energy source for the production of surges. Flare data from a two-year interval are analyzed to show that the probability of having surges associated with flares is greater when there are accompanying decimeter type III bursts or impulsive 8800 MHz bursts. The model of chromospheric heating by impulsive electrons proposed by Hudson is examined and shown to provide an adequate explanation for the origin of flare surges. The proposed surge model is consistent with the temporal evolution of the flare-surge event and the required surge energy. Surges not accompanied by flares can also probably be explained by the model.