2013/12/31 by Amir Caspi, Säm Krucker, R. P. Lin · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #astro-ph.SR #astro-ph.HE #physics.plasm-ph #physics.space-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/781/1/43
published as The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 781, Issue 1, 43 (11pp); 2014 January 20 · 14 pages, 1 table, 6 figures
arxiv created 2014/01/09 · arxiv updated 2014/06/25
We use RHESSI high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy observations from ~6 to 100 keV to determine the statistical relationships between measured parameters (temperature, emission measure, etc.) of hot, thermal plasma in 37 intense (GOES M- and X-class) solar flares. The RHESSI data, most sensitive to the hottest flare plasmas, reveal a strong correlation between the maximum achieved temperature and the flare GOES class, such that "super-hot" temperatures >30 MK are achieved almost exclusively by X-class events; the observed correlation differs significantly from that of GOES-derived temperatures, and from previous studies. A nearly-ubiquitous association with high emission measures, electron densities, and instantaneous thermal energies suggests that super-hot plasmas are physically distinct from cooler, ~10-20 MK GOES plasmas, and that they require substantially greater energy input during the flare. High thermal energy densities suggest that super-hot flares require strong coronal magnetic fields, exceeding ~100 G, and that both the plasma β and volume filling factor f cannot be much less than unity in the super-hot region.