Search arXiv⌕ Search

arXiv · 1412.0172

Properties of chromospheric evaporation and plasma dynamics of a solar flare from IRIS observations

Abstract

Dynamics of hot chromospheric plasma of solar flares is a key to understanding of mechanisms of flare energy release and particle acceleration. A moderate M1.0 class flare of 12 June, 2014 (SOL2014-06-12T21:12) was simultaneously observed by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), other spacecraft, and also by New Solar Telescope (NST) at the BBSO. This paper presents the first part of our investigation focused on analysis of the IRIS data. Our analysis of the IRIS data in different spectral lines reveals strong redshifted jet-like flow with the speed of ~100 km/s of the chromospheric material before the flare. Strong nonthermal emission of the C II k 1334.5 A line, formed in the chromosphere-corona transition region, is observed at the beginning of the impulsive phase in several small (with a size of ~1 arcsec) points. It is also found that the C II k line is redshifted across the flaring region before, during and after the impulsive phase. A peak of integrated emission of the hot (1.1 MK) plasma in the Fe XXI 1354.1 A line is detected approximately 5 minutes after the integrated emission peak of the lower temperature C II k. A strong blueshift of the Fe XXI line across the flaring region corresponds to evaporation flows of the hot chromospheric plasma with a speed of 50 km/s. Additional analysis of the Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) data supports the idea that the upper chromospheric dynamics observed by IRIS has features of "gentle" evaporation driven by heating of the solar chromosphere by accelerated electrons and by a heat flux from the flare energy release site.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Viacheslav M. Sadykov, Santiago Vargas Dominguez, Alexander G. Kosovichev, Ivan N. Sharykin, Alexei B. Struminsky, Ivan V. Zimovets. 2015-04-09. Properties of chromospheric evaporation and plasma dynamics of a solar flare from IRIS observations. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x%2F805%2F2%2F167

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Good things always come in 3s: trimodality in the binary black-hole chirp-mass distribution supports bimodal black-hole formation

The latest GWTC-4 release from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) collaboration nearly doubles the known population of double compact object mergers and reveals a new trimodal structure in the chirp-mass distribution of merging binary black holes (BBHs) below 30 Msun. Recent detailed stellar evolution models show that features in the pre-collapse cores of massive stars produce a bimodal black hole (BH) mass distribution, which naturally extends to a trimodal BBH chirp-mass distribution. Both distributions depend only weakly on metallicity, implying universal structural features which can be tested with LVK observations. Using a new compact-remnant mass prescription derived from these models, we perform rapid population synthesis simulations to test the robustness of the predicted chirp-mass structure against uncertainties in binary evolution and cosmic star formation history, and compare these results with the current observational data. The trimodal chirp-mass distribution emerges as a robust outcome of the new remnant-mass model, persisting across variations in binary and cosmic physics. In contrast, traditional BH formation models lacking a bimodal BH mass spectrum fail to reproduce the observed trimodality. The updated models also predict lower BBH merger rates by a factor of a few, in closer agreement with LVK constraints. Intriguingly, the central chirp-mass peak, dominated by unequal-mass BBHs, originates from a previously underappreciated formation pathway in which strong luminous blue variable winds suppress binary interaction before the first BH forms. If isolated binary evolution dominates BBH formation below 30 Msun, the relative heights of the three chirp-mass peaks offer powerful observational constraints on core collapse, BH formation, binary evolution, and cosmic star formation. These universal structural features may also serve as standard sirens for precision cosmology.

astro-ph.SR↗

Simulating the convection in red super-giant stars: wobbling jets in common envelope evolution

We use our newly constructed three-dimensional red supergiant (RSG) stellar model, which also mimics nuclear energy production and photospheric emission, to calculate the stochastic component of the angular momentum of the mass that a companion spiraling within the RSG's envelope accretes during common envelope evolution (CEE). The accreted mass has a fixed-direction angular-momentum component arising from the density gradient in the RSG envelope and orbital motion. The angular momentum component with a stochastically varying direction results from vigorous envelope convection. We do not include the companion's influence on the RSG envelope during the CEE and consider an undisturbed, non-rotating RSG stellar model. We find that the fluctuating angular momentum amplitude can be several times the fixed-axis angular momentum. The total specific angular momentum of the accreted mass easily forms intermittent accretion disks around neutron stars and black holes, but it is only marginally sufficient, or not at all, to form accretion disks around main-sequence stellar companions. The intermittent accretion disks we expect to form will launch wobbling jets with varying axes. We discuss aspects of wobbling jets in the CEE and the grazing envelope evolution (GEE), which might precede the CEE or replace it altogether. Studies have claimed that jets are a crucial ingredient in many cases of CEE, and the standard CEE should include jets that the companion launches, before (like the GEE), during, and/or at the exit from the CEE. Our study supports this claim and emphasizes the importance of wobbling jets.

astro-ph.SR↗

Central stars of newly discovered infrared nebulae: eruptive Be stars PY Gem and HD253659

The presence of a nebula around massive hot stars often works as an indicator that the object is either in an advanced evolutionary stage or a rare product of close binary interaction. Here, we focus on two Be stars - PY Gem and HD253659 - whose nebulae were detected with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. We estimated their basic physical parameters from modelling the spectral energy distribution and examined their variability. We combined archival photometric data from several ground-based survey telescopes and from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) with our own data from dedicated multi-colour photometric and spectroscopic monitoring, and concluded that, despite having similar stellar properties, the photometric variability of the two objects is strikingly different. For HD253659 we detected continuous eruptive variability and a major outburst that took place between 2016 and 2022 along with numerous flicker events seen in the TESS data. HD253659 also exhibits loop-like behaviour in the colour-magnitude diagram, consistent with build-up and dissipation phases of a circumstellar disk seen close to pole-on. In contrast, during the past ~20 years PY Gem has lost its eruptive variability and shows only small-amplitude p and g-mode pulsations classifying PY Gem as βCephei hybrid pulsator. An incoherent low-frequency signal is identified as a Štefl frequency, which seems to be supported by the cyclic variation of the emission-line profiles. Detailed analysis of these stars indicates that both objects are inconsistent with evolved massive stars, and that the origin of their nebulae is more likely linked to the physics of the Be phenomenon.

astro-ph.SR↗