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Solar Flares: RHESSI Mission Results

"Explore groundbreaking findings from the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Image (RHESSI) mission on solar flares, energy release mechanisms, and particle acceleration. Witness the biggest explosions in the solar system and uncover mysteries of the sun's corona. Learn about RHESSI's observations of plasma heating, magnetic field morphology, and accelerated particles in space. Discover how RHESSI contributes to predicting solar cycles and advancing understanding of solar phenomena. Dive into the fascinating world of solar research with RHESSI Results."

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Solar Flares: RHESSI Mission Results

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  1. First RHESSI ResultsBrian R. DennisRHESSI Mission ScientistCode 682 Space Sciences Directorate Monthly Report Monday, 25 March 2002

  2. The Reuven RamatyHigh EnergySolarSpectroscopic Image-RHESSI RHESSI Results

  3. RHESSI Results

  4. Solar Flares • Biggest explosions in the solar system - 1032 ergs or a billion megatons of TNT • Heat plasma to tens of millions of degrees. • Accelerate particles to near the speed of light - electrons to >100 MeV - ions to >10 GeV. • Magnetic energy released in the solar corona – mechanism unknown. RHESSI Results

  5. Biggest Explosions(in tons of TNT equivalent) • Conventional TNT 3.8x103 • Atomic bomb (Hiroshima) 1.3x104 • Hydrogen bomb 2x107 • Tunguska event (1908) 1x107 • Mount Pinatubo (1991) 7x107 • Largest earthquake (Chile 1960) 3x109 • Asteroid that wiped out dinosaurs 1014 • Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter 1014 • Largest solar flare 1016 RHESSI Results

  6. Solar Flares How do you determine the energy release mechanism(s)? • Observe emissions from the heated plasma • Traditional H-alpha, UV, EUV (SOHO, TRACE), soft X-rays (Yohkoh) • Reveals magnetic field morphology • All energy release processes produce heat. • Observe the accelerated particles in space • ACE, WIND, SOHO, etc. • Many particles do not escape from the Sun • Transportation effects modify the information • Observe the emissions from the accelerated particles • Hard X-rays from electrons, gamma-rays from ions • Provides the most direct signature of the energy release mechanism(s) RHESSI Results

  7. RHESSI Results

  8. First RHESSI Flare Movie RHESSI Results

  9. What’s Going On? RHESSI Results

  10. RHESSI/SOHO/TRACE Overlay RHESSI Results

  11. RHESSI Flare Spectra RHESSI Results

  12. RHESSI Results

  13. RHESSI Results

  14. RHESSI Footpoint Flare RHESSI Results

  15. RHESSI – SOHO (EIT) Overlay 20 Feb. 2002 11:06 UT Color: EIT Contours: RHESSI 30 – 80 keV 15 – 90% levels RHESSI Results

  16. Shutters-Out Sensitivity GOES C-level RHESSI Results

  17. Gamma-Ray Burst RHESSI Results

  18. RHESSI Minimum Science Requirements 4.1.2.1 Perform hard X-ray (greater than 20 keV) imaging spectroscopy of solar flares with better than 4 arcsec spatial resolution and better than 3 keV energy resolution. 4.1.2.2 Perform high resolution (better than 3 keV FWHM at l MeV) spectroscopy of gamma-ray lines in solar flares. 4.1.2.3 Obtain observations of at least a hundred hard X-ray flares and ten gamma-ray (greater than 300 keV) flares. RHESSI Results

  19. Solar Cycle Predictions RHESSI Results

  20. Summary • RHESSI almost fully operational • All data and analysis software released • About 30 hard X-ray flares observed • Waiting on the Sun for Gamma-ray flares • Looking forward to many years of observations RHESSI Results

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