Abstracts submitted by Hugh Hudson
Transients in RHESSI and chromospheric flares
Hugh S. Hudson
SSL/UC Berkeley
Solar flares have a strongly nonthermal character, which means that the RHESSI hard X-ray and gamma-ray observations must play a decisive role in our understanding of the significant mechanisms involved. The major energy release, as confirmed by the recently detected stepwise changes of the photosphereic field, occurs during the impulsive phase when these hard radiations appear. Other radiations, such as soft X-rays, mainly reflect secondary effects and flare-altered magnetic structures, but the UV and white-light continuum strongly correlates with the energy release. The energy for the flare and for the particle acceleration must come from the solar corona. At the same time (the impulsive phase of the flare, or the acceleration phase of the CME) there are drastic effects in the chromosphere. We review the RHESSI observations of flares and discuss their relationships with the chromospheric effects. |
|
|