Triangulation of Hard X-Ray Sources in an X-Class Solar Flare with ASO-S/HXI and Solar Orbiter/STIX.

Autor: Ryan DF; University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Bahnhofstrasse 6, Windisch, 5210 Switzerland.; Present Address: Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, RH5 6NT UK., Massa P; University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Bahnhofstrasse 6, Windisch, 5210 Switzerland., Battaglia AF; University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Bahnhofstrasse 6, Windisch, 5210 Switzerland.; Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics (IPA), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ), Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 27, 8039 Zurich, Switzerland.; Present Address: Istituto ricerche solari Aldo e Cele Daccò (IRSOL), Faculty of informatics, Università della Svizzera italiana, Locarno, Switzerland., Dickson ECM; Institute of Physics & Kanzelhöhe Observatory, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 5, 8010 Graz, Austria., Su Y; Key Laboratory of Dark Matter and Space Astronomy, Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210023 China.; School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026 China., Chen W; Key Laboratory of Dark Matter and Space Astronomy, Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210023 China., Krucker S; University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Bahnhofstrasse 6, Windisch, 5210 Switzerland.; Space Sciences Lab, UC Berkeley, 7 Gauss Way, Berkeley, CA 94708 USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Solar physics [Sol Phys] 2024; Vol. 299 (8), pp. 114. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Aug 21.
DOI: 10.1007/s11207-024-02341-8
Abstrakt: HXI on ASO-S and STIX onboard Solar Orbiter are the first simultaneously operating solar hard X-ray imaging spectrometers. ASO-S's low Earth orbit and Solar Orbiter's periodic displacement from the Sun-Earth line enables multi-viewpoint solar hard X-ray spectroscopic imaging analysis for the first time. Here, we demonstrate the potential of this new capability by reporting the first results of 3D triangulation of hard X-ray sources in the SOL2023-12-31T21:55 X5 flare. HXI and STIX observed the flare near the east limb with an observer separation angle of 18°. We triangulated the brightest regions within each source, which enabled us to characterise the large-scale hard X-ray geometry of the flare. The footpoints were found to be in the chromosphere within uncertainty, as expected, while the thermal looptop source was centred at an altitude of 15.1 ± 1 Mm. Given the footpoint separation, this implies a more elongated magnetic-loop structure than predicted by a semi-circular model. These results show the strong diagnostic power of joint HXI and STIX observations for understanding the 3D geometry of solar flares. We conclude by discussing the next steps required to fully exploit their potential.
Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing interests.
(© The Author(s) 2024.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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