Solar Simple Bursts Observed with High Spectral Resolution in the 18-23 GHz Range

Abstract

AbstractFor the first time, solar bursts in the frequency range of (18-23) GHz have been observed with high-time (0.6-1.2 s) and high-frequency resolution (1 GHz), by using the Itapetinga 13.7m diameter antenna. Here, we investigate the microwave type “simple low level (< 10 SFU) bursts” associated with the impulsive phase of solar flares. Observed properties of these simple bursts are: rise time tr ~3 s, decay time td ~ 5 s and spectral index ranging between −1 and −4. These bursts were found to be associated with SF or SN flares as seen in Hα. The above properties suggest that they are likely to be a microwave counterpart of elementary flare bursts. In the majority of the cases the spectral evolution is soft-hard-soft. This suggests a nonthermal gyrosynchrotron mechanism for generating these elementary flare bursts. Estimated parameters of these simple burst sources are height (h ~ 2400 km), electron density (Nє < 8.8 × 109 cm−3 ), and magnetic field (B ~ 300 G).Subject headings: radiation mechanisms: nonthermal — Sun: radio radiation