HR: 17:15h
AN: SH44A-06 INVITED     [Abstracts]
TI: Spectroscopy of Gamma-ray Line and Hard X-ray/Gamma-ray Continuum Emissions in Solar Flares
AU: * Lin, R
EM: rlin@ssl.berkeley.edu
AF: University of California, Physics Dept and Space Sciences Laboratory, 7 Gauss Way, Berkeley, CA 94720-7450 United States
AB: Solar flares accelerated ions and electrons colliding with the solar atmosphere produce gamma-ray (GR)lines through nuclear interactions and hard X-ray(HXR)/GR continuum through electron bremsstrahlung, respectively. The accelerated particles often contain a substantial fraction, >~10-50%, of the total energy released in the flare. Thus, high resolution spectroscopy in the HXR/nuclear GR energy range (~10 keV to ~10 MeV), particularly if combined with imaging, provides a powerful tool for studying the particle acceleration, transport, and loss processes; and the flare energy release mechanism itself. High resolution measurements of GR lines give information on the angular distribution and energy spectrum of the accelerated ions, and on the temperature, density, and composition of the ambient medium. Precise, high resolution measurements of the HXR/GR continuum can be inverted to obtain the instataneous spectrum of the parent bremsstrahlung-producing electrons. If the electron loss processes are known, the accelerated electron spectrum can be obtained to compare with models. The Ramaty High Resolution Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) mission was designed to provide such HXR/GR measurements. I review the many new results from RHESSI and their implications for particle acceleration and energy release in solar flares.
DE: 7514 Energetic particles (2114)
DE: 7519 Flares
DE: 7554 X-rays, gamma rays, and neutrinos
DE: 7594 Instruments and techniques
SC: SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics [SH]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005