HR: 09:20h
AN: SH11C-06 INVITED [Abstracts]
TI: Is the Standard Flare Model Still Adequate? -- A Review of Recent RHESSI X-Ray Observations
AU: * Sui, L
EM: linhui.sui@gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: Catholic University of America, Department of Physics, 200 Hannan Hall, 620 Michigan Ave, Washinton, DC
20064
United States
AU: * Sui, L
EM: linhui.sui@gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Lab for Solar and Space Physics, Code 612.1, Greenbelt, MD 20771
United States
AU: Holman, G D
EM: Gholman@gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Lab for Solar and Space Physics, Code 612.1, Greenbelt, MD 20771
United States
AU: Dennis, B R
EM: Brian.R.Dennis@nasa.gov
AF: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Lab for Solar and Space Physics, Code 612.1, Greenbelt, MD 20771
United States
AB:
The standard flare model was developed several decades ago. Many observations support this model. However, some aspects of
the model are either contradicted by observations or lack observational support. It is these "imperfect matches" that offer a
chance to refine the existing model and push it to higher levels of sophistication. The Ramaty High Energy Solar
Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI), with its unprecedented imaging capability, broad energy coverage and high energy resolution in
X-rays, has provided us with many new observations of solar flares. This talk will focus on some of these results, from
RHESSI alone and from RHESSI combined with other components of the Sun-Solar System Connection Great Observatory. These
include the temperature distribution of the looptop and above-the-looptop hard X-ray coronal sources, the association of
coronal X-ray sources with Coronal Mass Ejections, flare loops decreasing in altitude early in the flare impulsive phase,
coronal sources moving along a flare loop down to the footpoints and then moving back up to the looptop, and the formation of
a cusp structure and new magnetic loops during a loop-loop interaction flare. The impact of these new observations on the
standard reconnection flare model will be discussed.
This work was supported in part by NASA SEC Guest Investigator Grant 370-16-20-16 and by the RHESSI project.
DE: 7513 Coronal mass ejections (2101)
DE: 7519 Flares
DE: 7526 Magnetic reconnection (2723, 7835)
SC: SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics [SH]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005