Large Flares Research Articles

Variable H13CO+ Emission in the IM Lup Disk: X-Ray Driven Time-dependent Chemistry?

Abstract We report the first detection of a substantial brightening event in an isotopologue of a key molecular ion, HCO+, within a protoplanetary disk of a T Tauri star. The H13CO+ rotational transition was observed three times toward IM Lup between 2014 July and 2015 May with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. The first two observations show similar spectrally integrated line and continuum fluxes, while the third observation shows a doubling in the disk-integrated line flux compared to the continuum, which does not change between the three epochs. We explore models of an X-ray active star irradiating the disk via stellar flares, and find that the optically thin H13CO+ emission variation can potentially be explained via X-ray-driven chemistry temporarily enhancing the HCO+ abundance in the upper layers of the disk atmosphere during large or prolonged flaring events. If the HCO+ enhancement is indeed caused by an X-ray flare, future observations should be able to spatially resolve these events and potentially enable us to watch the chemical aftermath of the high-energy stellar radiation propagating across the face of protoplanetary disks, providing a new pathway to explore ionization physics and chemistry, including electron density, in disks.

Orbital variations in intensity and spectral properties of the highly obscured sgHMXB IGR J16318−4848

IGR J16318-4848 is an X-ray binary with the highest known line of sight absorption column density among all known X-ray binary systems in our galaxy. In order to investigate the reason behind such a large absorption column, we looked at the variations in the X-ray intensity and spectral parameters as a function of the tentatively discovered $\sim$ 80 day orbit of this source. The orbital period is firmly confirmed in the long term ($\sim$ 12 year) Swift BAT lightcurve. Two peaks about half an orbit apart, one narrow and small, and the other broad and large are seen in the orbital intensity profile. We find that while most orbits show enhanced emissions at these two peaks, the larger peak in the folded longterm lightcurve is more a result of randomly occurring large flares spread over $\sim$ 0.2 orbital phase. As opposed to this, the smaller peak is seen in every orbit as a regular increase in intensity. Using archival data spread over different phases of the orbit and the geometry of the system as known from previously published infrared observations, we present a possible scenario which explains the orbital intensity profile, bursting characteristics and large column density of this X-ray binary.

Small electron acceleration episodes in the solar corona

We study the energetics of non-thermal electrons produced in small acceleration episodes in the solar corona. We carried out an extensive survey spanning 2004–2015 and shortlisted six impulsive electron events detected at 1 au that were not associated with large solar flares (GOES soft X-ray class > C1) or with coronal mass ejections. Each of these events had weak, but detectable hard X-ray (HXR) emission near the west limb, and were associated with interplanetary type III bursts. In some respects, these events seem like weak counterparts of ‘cold/tenuous’ flares. The energy carried by the HXR producing electron population was ≈1023–1025 erg, while that in the corresponding population detected at 1 au was ≈1024–1025 erg. The number of electrons that escape the coronal acceleration site and reach 1 au constitute 6 per cent to 148 per cent of those that precipitate downwards to produce thick target HXR emission.

Structure and variability in the corona of the ultrafast rotator LO Pegasi

Low-mass ultrafast rotators show the typical signatures of magnetic activity and are known to produce flares, probably as a result of magnetic reconnection. As a consequence, the coronae of these stars exhibit very large X-ray luminosities and high plasma temperatures, as well as a pronounced inverse FIP effect. To probe the relationship between the coronal properties with a spectral type of ultra-fast rotators with rotation period P < 1d, we analyse the K3 rapid-rotator LO Peg observed with XMM-Newton and compare it with other low-mass rapid rotators of spectral types G9-M1. We investigate the temporal evolution of coronal properties like the temperatures, emission measures, abundances, densities and the morphology of the involved coronal structures. We find two distinguishable levels of activity in the XMM-Newton observation of LO~Peg, which shows significant X-ray variability both in phase and amplitude, implying the presence of an evolving active region on the surface. The X-ray flux varies by 28%, possibly due to rotational modulation. During our observation, a large X-ray flare with a peak X-ray luminosity of 2E30 erg/s and an energy of 7.3E33 erg was observed. At the flare onset we obtain clear signatures for the occurrence of the Neupert effect. The flare plasma also shows an enhancement of iron by a factor of 2 during the rise and peak phase of the flare. Our modeling analysis suggests that the scale size of the flaring X-ray plasma is smaller than 0.5 R_star. Further, the flare loop length appears to be smaller than the pressure scale height of the flaring plasma. Our studies show that the X-ray properties of the LO~Peg are very similar to those of other low-mass ultrafast rotators, i.e., the X-ray luminosity is very close to saturation, its coronal abundances follow a trend of increasing abundance with increasing first ionisation potential, the so-called inverse FIP effect.

Post-flare formation of the accretion stream and a dip in pulse profiles of LMC X–4

We report here a pulse profile evolution study of an accreting X-ray pulsar LMC X–4 during and after the large X-ray flares using data from the two observatories XMM-Newton and RXTE. During the flares, the pulse profiles were found to have a significant phase offset in the range of 0.2–0.5 compared to the pulse profiles immediately before or after the flare. Investigating the pulse profiles for about 105 s after the flares, it was found that it takes about 2000–4000 s for the modified accretion column to return to its normal structure and formation of an accretion stream that causes a dip in the pulse profile of LMC X–4. We have also carried out pulse phase resolved spectroscopy of LMC X–4 in narrow phase bins using data from EPIC-pn and spectroscopically confirmed the pulsating nature of the soft spectral component, having a pulse fraction and phase different from that of the power-law component.

Plasma Heating in Solar Microflares: Statistics and Analysis

Abstract In this paper we present the results of an analysis of 481 weak solar flares, from A0.01 class flares to the B GOES class, that were observed during the period of extremely low solar activity from 2009 April to July. For all flares we measured the temperature of the plasma in the isothermal and two-temperature approximations and tried to fit its relationship with the X-ray class using exponential and power-law functions. We found that the whole temperature distribution in the range from A0.01 to X-class cannot be fit by one exponential function. The fitting for weak flares below A1.0 is significantly steeper than that for medium and large flares. The power-law approximation seems to be more reliable: the corresponding functions were found to be in good agreement with experimental data both for microflares and for normal flares. Our study predicts that evidence of plasma heating can be found in flares starting from the A0.0002 X-ray class. Weaker events presumably cannot heat the surrounding plasma. We also estimated emission measures for all flares studied and the thermal energy for 113 events.

Optical flare events on the RS Canum Venaticorum star UX Arietis

Based on long-term high-resolution spectroscopic observations obtained during five observing runs from 2001 to 2004, we study optical flare events and chromospheric activity variability of the very active RS CVn star UX Ari. By means of the spectral subtraction technique, several optical chromospheric activity indicators (including the He i D3, Na i D1, D2 doublet, Hα and Ca ii IRT lines) covered in our echelle spectra were analyzed. Four large optical flare events were detected on UX Ari during our observations, which show prominent He i D3 line emission together with great enhancement in emission of the Hα and Ca ii IRT lines and strong filled-in or emission reversal features in the Na i D1, D2 doublet lines. The newly detected flares are much more energetic than previous discoveries, especially for the flare identified during the 2002 December observing run. Optical flare events on UX Ari are more likely to be observed around two quadratures of the system, except for our optical flares detected during the 2004 November observing run. Moreover, we have found rotational modulation of chromospheric activity in the Hα and Ca ii IRT lines, which suggests the presence of chromospherically active longitudes over the surface of UX Ari. The change in chromospherically active longitudes among our observing runs, as well as the variation in chromospheric activity level from 2001 to 2004, indicates a long-term evolution of active regions.

The Relativistic Jet-accretion Flow–wind Connection in Mrk 231

Abstract Long-term radio monitoring of the broad absorption line (BAL) quasar Mrk 231 at 17.6 GHz detected a strong flare in 2015. This triggered four epochs of Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations from 8.4 to 43 GHz as well as three epochs of X-ray observations with NuSTAR and two with XMM over a 15 week period. Two ejected components were detected by the VLBA observations. A conservative lower bound on the apparent speed of the first ejection is attained by assuming that it was ejected when the flare began, . Serendipitous far-UV Hubble Space Telescope observations combined with our long-term radio monitoring seem to indicate that episodes of relativistic ejections suppress flux that is emitted at wavelengths shortward of the peak of the far-UV spectral energy distribution, similar to what has been observed in radio-loud quasars. Episodes of strong jet production also seem to suppress the high-ionization BAL wind seen in weak jet states. We found a statistically significant increase ( ) of the 3–12 keV flux during the radio flare relative to a quiescent radio state. This is explained by an ultra-fast (∼0.06c) X-ray-absorbing photoionized wind that is significantly detected only in the low-radio state (similar to Galactic black holes). Mrk 231 is becoming more radio loud. We found that the putative parsec-scale radio lobe doubled in brightness in nine years. Furthermore, large flares are more frequent, with three major flares occurring at ∼2 year intervals.

Possibilities of the forecast of generation of the high energy solar protons for the safety of Mars mission

During interplanetary flight, after large solar flares, astronauts are subject to the impact of relativistic solar protons. These particles produce an especially strong effect during extravehicular activity or landing on Mars (in the future). The relativistic protons reach the orbits of the Earth and Mars with a delay of several hours relative to solar X-rays and UV radiation. In this paper, we discuss a new opportunity to predict the most dangerous events caused by Solar Cosmic Rays with protons of maximum (relativistic) energy, known in the of solar-terrestrial physics asGround Level Enhancements or Ground Level Events (GLEs). This new capability is based on a close relationship between the dangerous events and decrease ofTotal Solar Irradiance (TSI)which precedes these events. This important relationship is revealed for the first time.

Time domain Rankine-Green panel method for offshore structures

To solve the numerical divergence problem of the direct time domain Green function method for the motion simulation of floating bodies with large flare, a time domain hybrid Rankine-Green boundary element method is proposed. In this numerical method, the fluid domain is decomposed by an imaginary control surface, at which the continuous condition should be satisfied. Then the Rankine Green function is adopted in the inner domain. The transient free surface Green function is applied in the outer domain, which is used to find the relationship between the velocity potential and its normal derivative for the inner domain. Besides, the velocity potential at the mean free surface between body surface and control surface is directly solved by the integration scheme. The wave exciting force is computed through the convolution integration with wave elevation, by introducing the impulse response function. Additionally, the nonlinear Froude-Krylov force and hydrostatic force, which is computed under the instantaneous incident wave free surface, are taken into account by the direct pressure integration scheme. The corresponding numerical computer code is developed and first used to compute the hydrodynamic coefficients of the hemisphere, as well as the time history of a ship with large flare; good agreement is obtained with the analytical solutions as well as the available numerical results. Then the hydrodynamic properties of a FPSO are studied. The hydrodynamic coefficients agree well with the results computed by the frequency method; the influence of the time interval and the truncated time is investigated in detail.

Modelling graph dynamics of flaring active regions using SDO/HMI data

Large solar flares define parameters of space weather near the Earth and normal operation of spacecrafts substantially depends on the cosmic particles flux of solar wind. Therefore, search for large flares predictors is an important problem. We propose to approximate topology of the magnetic field of active region by graph, whose vertices are minima and maxima of a scalar field and edges form a so-called critical net. Localization and number of critical points change during the process of evolution and, therefore, it is possible to track dynamic regimes of active region by considering dynamics of graphs. Numerical characteristic of the critical net is a spectrum of eigenvalues of its discrete Laplacian. We present examples which show that, apparently, Laplacian spectrum is closely related to flaring activity. It will allow us to use critical net in prognostic systems for prediction of large solar flares.

KIC011764567: An evolved Kepler‐star showing substantial flare activity

We intensively studied the flare activity on the stellar object KIC011764567. The star was thought to be a solar type, with a temperature of Teff≈(5640±200) K, log(g) = (4.3 ± 0.3) dex, and a rotational period of Prot≈22 days. High‐resolution spectra turn the target to an evolved object with Teff=(5300±150) K, a metalicity of [m/H] =(−0.5±0.2), a surface gravity of log(g) = (3.3 ± 0.4) dex, and a projected rotational velocity of v sin i = (22 ± 1) km s−1. Within an observing time span of 4 years, we detected 150 flares in Kepler data in the energy range 1036–1037 erg. From a dynamical Lomb–Scargle periodogram, we have evidence for differential rotation as well as for stellar spot evolution and migration. On analyzing the occurrence times of the flares, we found hints for a periodic flare frequency cycle of 430–460 days, a significant increase with an increase in threshold of the flares' equivalent duration. One explanation is a very short activity cycle of the star with that period. Another possibility, also proposed by others in similar cases, is that the larger flares may be triggered by external phenomena, such as magnetic interaction with an unseen companion. Our high‐resolution spectra show that KIC011764567 is not a short‐period binary star.

Methodology of experimental search for neutrinos from solar flares in Borexino detector

Solar flares are sudden variations in brightness observed near the Sun’s surface. Some theoretical models predict production of electron and muon neutrinos with energies up to few tens of MeV during solar flares. In 1980s the Homestake experiment reported excess of detected neutrino events possibly correlated with large solar flares. Since then the interest to similar studies by other neutrino detectors has increased. In this report we summarize the status of experimental searches and describe the methodology for the study of neutrinos from solar flares in Borexino liquid scintillator detector.

LAMOST OBSERVATIONS OF FLARING M DWARFS IN THE KEPLER FIELD

ABSTRACT A sample of the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope spectra of early-type M0–M3 dwarfs is compared with Kepler observations. It is found that M dwarfs with strong chromospheric emission in have large flare activity in general. The rotational periods derived from the Kepler measurements have close correlations with the sizes of the flares, the power-law distribution index, and the equivalent widths of the emission. A clear trend exists for higher magnetic activities being detected in faster-rotating M dwarfs (rotation periods &lt; 20 days).

Application of ALE to nonlinear wave radiation by a non-wall-sided structure

Water waves generated by the forced oscillation of a 3D non-wall-sided structure are analyzed based on the fully nonlinear potential-flow theory. In order to track an exact position of the free surface, Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) scheme is used in the computation. The feature of ALE scheme is that by introducing a prescribed path (curve) for each fluid marker on the free surface, the movement of fluid marker representing the deformation of free surface is confined along a path. With properly-designed configuration of those paths, this scheme brings about several advantages compared with the Mixed Eulerian-Lagrangian scheme and the Semi-Lagrangian scheme which are extensively used. In the computation, a higher-order boundary element method (HOBEM) and the 4th-order Runge-Kutta method are adopted as the solver of an initial boundary value problem (BVP). In the validation, the radiated waves generated by a truncated circular cylinder with flare oscillating in heave or surge are studied. Regarding the calculation of hydrodynamic forces, the temporal derivative of the velocity potential (ϕt) is evaluated in an exact but simple manner, i.e. ϕt is obtained by solving a reconstructed BVP without evaluating second-order derivatives of the velocity potential. Besides hydrodynamic forces, wave profiles at specific points and wave run-ups are also computed. Comparisons of the present results against published results of corresponding computations are made. To evaluate capability of the proposed ALE scheme, bodies with curved large flare are used in the computation.

PREDICTION OF SOLAR FLARES USING UNIQUE SIGNATURES OF MAGNETIC FIELD IMAGES

ABSTRACT Prediction of solar flares is an important task in solar physics. The occurrence of solar flares is highly dependent on the structure and topology of solar magnetic fields. A new method for predicting large (M- and X-class) flares is presented, which uses machine learning methods applied to the Zernike moments (ZM) of magnetograms observed by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory for a period of six years from 2010 June 2 to 2016 August 1. Magnetic field images consisting of the radial component of the magnetic field are converted to finite sets of ZMs and fed to the support vector machine classifier. ZMs have the capability to elicit unique features from any 2D image, which may allow more accurate classification. The results indicate whether an arbitrary active region has the potential to produce at least one large flare. We show that the majority of large flares can be predicted within 48 hr before their occurrence, with only 10 false negatives out of 385 flaring active region magnetograms and 21 false positives out of 179 non-flaring active region magnetograms. Our method may provide a useful tool for the prediction of solar flares, which can be employed alongside other forecasting methods.

Midlatitude ionospheric changes to four great geomagnetic storms of solar cycle 23 in Southern and Northern Hemispheres

AbstractThis paper presents an investigation of ionospheric response to great (Dst ≤−350 nT) geomagnetic storms that occurred during solar cycle 23. The storm periods analyzed are 29 March to 2 April 2001, 27–31 October 2003, 18–23 November 2003, and 6–11 November 2004. Global Navigation Satellite System, total electron content (TEC), and ionosonde critical frequency of F2 layer (foF2) data over Southern Hemisphere (African sector) and Northern Hemisphere (European sector) midlatitudes were used to study the ionospheric responses within 15°E–40°E longitude and ±31° to ±46° geomagnetic latitude. Midlatitude regions within the same longitude sector in both hemispheres were selected in order to assess the contribution of the low‐latitude changes especially the expansion of equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) also called the dayside ionospheric superfountain effect during these storms. In all storm periods, both negative and positive ionospheric responses were observed in both hemispheres. Negative ionospheric responses were mainly due to changes in neutral composition, while the expansion of the EIA led to pronounced positive storm effects at midlatitudes for some storm periods. In other cases (e.g., 29 October 2003), penetration electric fields, EIA expansion, and large‐scale traveling ionospheric disturbances were found to be present during the positive storm effect at midlatitudes in both hemispheres. An increase in TEC on the 28 October 2003 was because of the large solar flare with previously determined intensity of X45 ±5.

A VERY BRIGHT, VERY HOT, AND VERY LONG FLARING EVENT FROM THE M DWARF BINARY SYSTEM DG CVn

ABSTRACT On 2014 April 23, the Swift satellite responded to a hard X-ray transient detected by its Burst Alert Telescope, which turned out to be a stellar flare from a nearby, young M dwarf binary DG CVn. We utilize observations at X-ray, UV, optical, and radio wavelengths to infer the properties of two large flares. The X-ray spectrum of the primary outburst can be described over the 0.3–100 keV bandpass by either a single very high-temperature plasma or a nonthermal thick-target bremsstrahlung model, and we rule out the nonthermal model based on energetic grounds. The temperatures were the highest seen spectroscopically in a stellar flare, at T X of 290 MK. The first event was followed by a comparably energetic event almost a day later. We constrain the photospheric area involved in each of the two flares to be &gt;1020 cm2, and find evidence from flux ratios in the second event of contributions to the white light flare emission in addition to the usual hot, T ∼ 104 K blackbody emission seen in the impulsive phase of flares. The radiated energy in X-rays and white light reveal these events to be the two most energetic X-ray flares observed from an M dwarf, with X-ray radiated energies in the 0.3–10 keV bandpass of 4 × 1035 and 9 × 1035 erg, and optical flare energies at E V of 2.8 × 1034 and 5.2 × 1034 erg, respectively. The results presented here should be integrated into updated modeling of the astrophysical impact of large stellar flares on close-in exoplanetary atmospheres.

Origin of the Blue Continuum Radiation in the Flare Spectra of dMe Stars

Calculations of the emission spectrum of a homogeneous plane layer of pure hydrogen plasma taking into account nonlinear effects (the influence of bremsstrahlung and recombination radiation of the layer itself on its Menzel factors) [Morchenko et al., Ap&SS, Vol. 357, article id. 119 (2015)] show that the blue component of the optical continuum during the impulsive phase of large flares on dMe stars originates from the near-photospheric layers [Grinin and Sobolev, Afz, Vol. 13, 587 (1977)]. The gas behind the front of a stationary radiative shock wave propagating in the red dwarf chromosphere toward the photosphere is not capable of generating the blackbody radiation observed at the maximum brightness of the flares.

Damped large amplitude oscillations in a solar prominence and a bundle of coronal loops

We investigate the evolutions of two prominences (P1, P2) and two bundles of coronal loops (L1, L2), observed with SDO/AIA near the east solar limb on 2012 September 22. It is found that there were large-amplitude oscillations in P1 and L1 but no detectable motions in P2 and L2. These transverse oscillations were triggered by a large-scale coronal wave, originating from a large flare in a remote active region behind the solar limb. By carefully comparing the locations and heights of these oscillating and non-oscillating structures, we conclude that the propagating height of the wave is between 50 Mm and 130 Mm. The wave energy deposited in the oscillating prominence and coronal loops is at least of the order of 1028 erg. Furthermore, local magnetic field strength and Alfvén speeds are derived from the oscillating periods and damping time scales, which are extracted from the time series of the oscillations. It is demonstrated that oscillations can be used in not only coronal seismology, but also to reveal the properties of the wave.