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High-energy continuum emission from solar flares

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Abstract

The properties of solar flare continuum emission at energies >300 keV are discussed. Emphasis is placed on observations made during the 21st Solar Maximum by γ-ray detectors aboard the Solar Maximum Mission and Hinotori satellites. The statistical properties of high-energy flares are presented, including their size-frequency distribution, spectral-index distribution, position distribution, and associated soft X-ray size. The temporal structure of the high-energy continuum is reviewed as well as attempts to model the structure by two-step acceleration and particle trapping. Evidence for the directivity of flare radiation is presented and statistical and stereoscopic analysis techniques are compared and contrasted. The first observations of flare γ-rays at energies > 10 MeV are examined. We show that the very high-energy emission must be a mixture of pion-decay radiation and primary electron bremsstrahlung. Finally, we present high-energy observations from the extended phase of the giant 3 June, 1982 flare which seem to require a new acceleration component.

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  1. Physics Department, University of New Hampshire, 03824, Durham, NH, U.S.A.

    W. Thomas Vestrand

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Vestrand, W.T. High-energy continuum emission from solar flares. Sol Phys 118, 95–121 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00148589

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00148589

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