Connecting chromospheric condensation signatures to reconnection driven heating rates in an X1.0 flare
Abstract
Observations of solar flare reconnection at very high resolution can be indirectly made at the footpoints of reconnected loops into which flare energy is deposited. The response of the lower atmosphere to this energy input includes a downward-propagating shock called chromospheric condensation, which can be observed at wavelengths including UV and visible. In order to characterize reconnection using high resolution observations of this shock, one must develop a quantitative relationship between the two. Such a relation was recently developed in previous work and here we test it on observations of chromospheric condensation in a single footpoint in the flare ribbon of the X1.0 flare SOL2014- 10-25T16:56:36. Measurements taken of Si iv 1402.77Å emission spectra with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) using a 5 s cadence show a red-shifted component undergoing typical condensation evolution, with a peak downward velocity of 35 km s-1 and a half-life of 16 s. Simultaneous observations taken with the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) reveal a temporally and spatially correlated increase in UV emission in the 1600 Å band. We apply a technique called the Ultraviolet Footpoint Calorimeter (UFC) to the 1600 Å lightcurve to infer the energy deposition into the footpoint. We then input this energy into a one-dimensional, hydrodynamic simulation to compute the chromospheric response, including condensation. From this simulation we synthesize Si iv spectra and compute the time-evolving Doppler velocity. This is found to compare reasonably well with the IRIS observation, thus corroborating our reconnection-condensation relationship.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2021
- Bibcode:
- 2021AGUFMSH24B..03A