2017/12/13 by Qi Hao, Q. Hao, Kai Yang +11 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Flare #Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics #Light curve #Observatory #Optics #Physics #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #Solar flare #Stars #White dwarf #White light #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02343-0
23 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, published in Nature Communications
openalex publication_date 2017/12/13 · arxiv created 2017/12/20 · arxiv updated 2017/12/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
White-light flares are the flares with emissions visible in the optical continuum. They are thought to be rare and pose the most stringent requirements in energy transport and heating in the lower atmosphere. Here we present a nearly circular white-light flare on 10 March 2015 that was well observed by the Optical and Near-infrared Solar Eruption Tracer and Solar Dynamics Observatory. In this flare, there appear simultaneously both impulsive and gradual white-light kernels. The generally accepted thick-target model would be responsible for the impulsive kernels but not sufficient to interpret the gradual kernels. Some other mechanisms including soft X-ray backwarming or downward-propagating Alfvén waves, acting jointly with electron beam bombardment, provide a possible interpretation. However, the origin of this kind of white-light kernel is still an open question that induces more observations and researches in the future to decipher it.