Flare Seismology from SDO Observations
Abstract
Some flares release intense seismic transients into the solar interior. These transients are the sole instance we know of in which the Sun's corona exerts a conspicuous influence on the solar interior through flares. The desire to understand this phenomenon has led to ambitious efforts to model the mechanisms by which energy stored in coronal magnetic fields drives acoustic waves that penetrate deep into the Sun's interior. These mechanisms potentially involve the hydrodynamic response of the chromosphere to thick-target heating by high-energy particles, radiative exchange in the chromosphere and photosphere, and Lorentz-force transients to account for acoustic energies estimated up to at 5X10^27 erg and momenta of order 6X10^19 dyne sec. An understanding of these components of flare mechanics promises more than a powerful diagnostic for local helioseismology. It could give us fundamental new insight into flare mechanics themselves. The key is appropriate observations to match the models. Helioseismic observations have identified the compact sources of transient seismic emission at the foot points of flares. The Solar Dynamics Observatory is now giving us high quality continuum-brightness and Doppler observations of acoustically active flares from HMI concurrent with high-resolution EUV observations from AIA. Supported by HXR observations from RHESSI and a broad variety of other observational resources, the SDO promises a leading role in flare research in solar cycle 24.
- Publication:
-
SDO-3: Solar Dynamics and Magnetism from the Interior to the Atmosphere
- Pub Date:
- October 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011sdmi.confE..10L
- Keywords:
-
- SDO;
- SDO-3;
- SDO 3;
- SDO Workshop;
- LWS/SDO-3/SOHO-26/GONG-2011 Workshop;
- Solar Dynamic Observatory