Abstract
We report a Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) observation of flare-accelerated electrons in the core of a coronal mass ejection (CME) and examine their role in heating the CME. Previous CME observations have revealed remarkably high thermal energies that can far surpass the CME's kinetic energy. A joint observation by RHESSI and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly of a partly occulted flare on 2010 November 3 allows us to test the hypothesis that this excess energy is collisionally deposited by flare-accelerated electrons. Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) images show an ejection forming the CME core and sheath, with isothermal multifilter analysis revealing temperatures of ~11 MK in the core. RHESSI images reveal a large (~100 × 50 arcsec2) hard X-ray (HXR) source matching the location, shape, and evolution of the EUV plasma, indicating that the emerging CME is filled with flare-accelerated electrons. The time derivative of the EUV emission matches the HXR light curve (similar to the Neupert effect observed in soft and HXR time profiles), directly linking the CME temperature increase with the nonthermal electron energy loss, while HXR spectroscopy demonstrates that the nonthermal electrons contain enough energy to heat the CME. This is the most direct observation to date of flare-accelerated electrons heating a CME, emphasizing the close relationship of the two in solar eruptive events.
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