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Title:
Evidence for the Formation of a Large-Scale Current Sheet in a Solar Flare
Authors:
Sui, Linhui; Holman, Gordon D.
Affiliation:
AA(Laboratory for Astronomy and Solar Physics, Code 682, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771; Department of Physics, Catholic University of America, 620 Michigan Avenue, Washington, DC 20064.), AB(Laboratory for Astronomy and Solar Physics, Code 682, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771)
Publication:
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 596, Issue 2, pp. L251-L254. (ApJL Homepage)
Publication Date:
10/2003
Origin:
UCP
ApJ Keywords:
Sun: Flares, Sun: X-Rays, Gamma Rays
DOI:
10.1086/379343
Bibliographic Code:
2003ApJ...596L.251S

Abstract

We present X-ray evidence for the formation of a large-scale current sheet in a flare observed by the Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager on 2002 April 15. The flare occurred on the northwest limb, showing a cusp-shaped flare loop in the rise phase. When the impulsive rise in hard X-rays (>25 keV) began, the cusp part of the coronal source separated from the underlying flare loop and remained stationary for about 2 minutes. During this time, the underlying flare loops shrank at ~9 km s-1. The temperature of the underlying loops increased toward higher altitudes, while the temperature of the coronal source increased toward lower altitudes. These results indicate that a current sheet formed between the top of the flare loops and the coronal source during the early impulsive phase. After the hard X-ray peak, the flare loops grew outward at ~8 km s-1, and the coronal source moved outward at ~300 km s-1, indicating an upward expansion of the current sheet. About 30 minutes later, postflare loops seen in the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) EUV Imaging Telescope 195 Å passband rose at ~10 km s-1. A large coronal looplike structure, observed by the SOHO Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph C2 and C3 detectors, also propagated outward at ~300 km s-1. These observations are all consistent with the continued expansion of the current sheet.
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