ULTRA-NARROW NEGATIVE FLARE FRONT OBSERVED in HELIUM-10830 USING the 1.6 m NEW SOLAR TELESCOPE

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-10-2016

Abstract

Solar flares are sudden flashes of brightness on the Sun and are often associated with coronal mass ejections and solar energetic particles that have adverse effects on the near-Earth environment. By definition, flares are usually referred to as bright features resulting from excess emission. Using the newly commissioned 1.6 m New Solar Telescope at Big Bear Solar Observatory, we show a striking "negative" flare with a narrow but unambiguous "dark" moving front observed in He i 10830 , which is as narrow as 340 km and is associated with distinct spectral characteristics in Hα and Mg ii lines. Theoretically, such negative contrast in He i 10830 can be produced under special circumstances by nonthermal electron collisions or photoionization followed by recombination. Our discovery, made possible due to unprecedented spatial resolution, confirms the presence of the required plasma conditions and provides unique information in understanding the energy release and radiative transfer in astronomical objects.

Identifier

84960968512 (Scopus)

Publication Title

Astrophysical Journal

External Full Text Location

https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/819/2/89

e-ISSN

15384357

ISSN

0004637X

Issue

2

Volume

819

Grant

1250374

Fund Ref

National Science Foundation

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