Energy Budget and Imaging Spectroscopy of a Compact Flare

Abstract

We present the analysis of a compact flare that occurred on 2002/02/26 at 10:26 UT, seen by both RHESSI and TRACE. The size of the nearly circular hard X-ray source is determined to be 4.7(+-1.5)" from the modulation profiles of the RHESSI collimators. The power-law distribution of non-thermal photons is observed to extend down to 10 keV without flattening, and to soften with increasing distance from the flare kernel. The former indicates that the energy of the precipitating flare electron population is larger than previously estimated: it amounts to 2.6(+-0.8)10^30 erg above 10 keV, assuming thick-target emission. The thermal energy content of the soft X-ray source (isothermal temperature of 20.8(+-0.9)MK) and its radiated power were derived from the thermal emission at low energies. TRACE has observed a low-temperature ejection in the form of a constricted bubble, which is interpreted as a reconnection jet. Its initial energy of motion is estimated. Using data from both satellites, an energy budget for this flare is derived. The kinetic energy of the jet bulk motion and the thermal and radiated energies of the flare kernel were more than an order of magnitude smaller than the derived electron beam energy. A movie is available on the CD-ROM accompanying this volume.