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The importance of solar white-light flares

  • Solar and Stellar Flares
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Abstract

The basic results of white-light flare (WLF) photometric and spectrographic observations are reviewed. WLFs represent the most extreme density conditions in solar optical flares and are similar to stellar flares in many respects. It is shown that WLFs originate in the low chromosphere and upper photosphere, and that their huge radiative losses remain difficult to explain within the context of known mechanisms of energy transport.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Air Force Geophysics Laboratory, National Solar Observatory/Sacramento Peak, National Optical Astronomy Observatories, 88349, Sunspot, NM, U.S.A.

    Donald F. Neidig

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  1. Donald F. Neidig
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Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation. Partial support for the National Solar Observatory is provided by the USAF under a Memorandum of Understanding with the NSF.

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Neidig, D.F. The importance of solar white-light flares. Sol Phys 121, 261–269 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00161699

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