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Constraints on Particle Acceleration from Interplanetary Observations R. P. Lin together with L. Wang, S. Krucker at UC Berkeley, G Mason at U. Maryland, and R. Mewaldt at Caltech. Krucker and Lin 2002. Electron - 3 He-rich SEP events - ~1000s/year at solar maximum - dominated by:
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Constraints on Particle Acceleration from Interplanetary ObservationsR. P. Lin together with L. Wang, S. Krucker at UC Berkeley, G Mason at U. Maryland, and R. Mewaldt at Caltech
Electron -3He-rich SEP events • - ~1000s/year at solar maximum • - dominated by: • - electrons of ~0.1 (!) to ~100 keV energy • - 3He ~10s keV/nuc to ~MeV/nuc • x10-x104 (!) enhancements • - heavy nuclei: Fe, Mg, Si, S enhancements • - high charge states • - associated with: • - small flares/coronal microflares • - Type III radio bursts • - Impulsive soft X-ray bursts (so also called Impulsive SEP events)
L=v(t-to) or L/v=t-to ~0.05 MeV/nuc - 1/vof3He (Mason & Mazur) ~1.5 MeV/nuc - 1/v for Electrons / Electrons 0.14–13 keV Electrons 20 – 350 keV Ions ~ 0.5 – 1 MeV
Electron spectrum at 1AU Typical electron spectrum can be fitted with broken power law: Break around: 30-100 keV Steeper at higher energies Oakley, Krucker, & Lin 2004
Comparing spectra PHOTON SPECTRA: Power law fit to HXR spectra averaged over peak ELECTRON SPECTRA: Power law fit to peak flux • Assuming power spectra: • THIN: d = g – 1 • THICK: d = g + 1 • RESULTS: • correlation seen • values are between
The Sun is the most energetic particle accelerator in the solar system:- Ions up to ~ 10s of GeV - Electrons up to ~100s of MeVAcceleration to these energies occurs in transient energy releases, in two (!) processes:- Large Solar Flares, in the lower corona - Fast Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), in the inner heliosphere, ~2-40 solar radii
X-Class Flare of 2002 July 23 • 00:27:20–00:43:20 UT • GOES X4.8 • Location: S13E72 (Lin et al. 2003)
RHESSIGamma-Ray Flares Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI)
e+ - e- n-capture bremsstrahlung narrow lines broad lines Oct. 28, 2003, RHESSI solar count spectrum from 11:06:20 – 11:10:04 (Smith et al. 2004, Share et al. 2004)
Energetic Proton Power-law Exponents28 Oct 03 2 Nov 03S16E08 S15W56γ-ray lines Energy range γ-ray (SEP) γ-ray (SEP)Ne/C+O2-20 MeV 2.0-3.2 (1.3)1.6-3.2 (1.7) e+/C+O 10-50 MeV2.2-3.3 (2.0)2.3-3.3 (2.8)n-capt/C+O10-100 MeV2.8-3.8 (2.5) 2.8-3.8 (3.0)
GOES soft X-rays RHESSI 2.2 MeV line RHESSI 100-200 keV RHESSI hard X-rays WIND/WAVES radio WIND/3DP electrons
20 Jan 05 Flare RHESSI Gamma-ray Spectrum - 20 Jan 05 Flare
In the Jan 20 Event the high energy particle-intensities reach Earth just minutes after the x-rays from the flare
X-ray imaging RHESSI X-ray imaging during HXR peak: Two ribbon flare with HXR footpoints (contours) with thermal loop (image)
Timing Red line (06:48UT): Solar release time derived from onsets at 1 AU assuming first arriving particles travel with the speed of light along L=1.2 AU LASCO (06:54UT): Around ~3 solar radii; lines show height assuming a constant velocity. For v=2500km/s, CME could be at ~1.5 solar radius at particle release time. Red crosses: Rising SXR loops (top of SXI emission) 2.2 MeV peaks at 06:47:30UT HXRs peak at 06:45:00UT