Abstract
We analyze here the impulsive phase of the 2001 August 25 eruptive flare (X5.3, S21, E38) in order to reveal the link of the time evolution of the magnetic-field reconnection rate \(\dot{\varphi}(t)\) with the energy-release process, as quantified by electron and proton acceleration to high energies. Hard X-rays and \(\upgamma \)-rays from 150 keV to 100 MeV were observed by the SONG (SOlar Neutrons and Gamma) detector onboard the CORONAS-F (Complex ORbital ObservatioNs of the Active Sun) mission. The soft X-ray derivative \(dI_{\mathrm{SXR}}/dt\) was used as a proxy for the flare energy release that revealed itself as a sequence of acceleration pulses. The reconnection rate \(\dot{\varphi}(t)\) was calculated previously from flare-ribbon observations in EUV and coaligned magnetic-field maps. The \(\upgamma \)-ray emission spectra were obtained from SONG data. All spectra contain both bremsstrahlung and \(\upgamma \)-ray lines. The bremsstrahlung spectrum extends to tens of MeV. The pion-decay gamma-ray emission, being a manifestation of proton acceleration to subrelativistic energies, appeared for the first time in the time interval of the \(\dot{\varphi}(t)\) maximum. This maximum was ahead of the maxima of \(dI_{\mathrm{SXR}}/dt\) as well as of all other emissions by about one minute. Proton acceleration to subrelativistic energies is confirmed by detection of solar neutrons by SONG and the Chacaltaya neutron monitor.
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Data Availability
The datasets analyzed during the current study were derived from the following public-domain resources: Yohkoh Legacy data Archive http://ylstone.physics.montana.edu/ylegacy/; Konus-Wind Solar Flare Database http://www.ioffe.ru/LEA/kwsun/; RSTN data ftp://ftp.ngdc.noaa.gov/STP/space-weather/solar-data/solar-features/solar-radio/ NOAA, Space Environment Center; ftp://ftp.ngdc.noaa.gov/STP/space-weather/solar-data/solar-features/solar-radio/rstn-1-second/sagamore-hill/2001/08/. The CORONAS-F/SONG data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the anonymous referee for a very helpful and constructive review. We wish to acknowledge V.V. Grechnev, A.A. Kochanov, and A.M. Uralov whose calculations of reconnected magnetic flux in this flare are decisive in this paper. We also thank them for helpful advice and discussions. We appreciate the science and instrument teams of Yohkoh, GOES, CORONAS-F, and Konus-Wind. We are especially grateful to A.L. Lysenko for providing detailed measurements of this flare with the Konus instrument.
Funding
The study was carried out within the state budget topic no. 122071200023-6 for SINP MSU.
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B.Yu. Yushkov: primary data processing, development of spectra restoration method and its realization, scientific analysis of data, discussion of results and manuscript preparation. V.G. Kurt: main scientific analysis of data, discussion of results and manuscript preparation. V.I. Galkin: principal development of spectra restoration method and its realization, scientific analysis of data, discussion of results.
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Yushkov, B.Y., Kurt, V.G. & Galkin, V.I. High-Energy Emissions Observed in the Impulsive Phase of the 2001 August 25 Eruptive Flare. Sol Phys 298, 31 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-023-02123-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-023-02123-8