Abstract
The solar flare on 2011 July 30 was of a modest X-ray class (M9.3), but it made a strong photospheric impact and produced a "sunquake," which was observed with the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. In addition to the helioseismic waves, the flare caused a large expanding area of white-light emission and was accompanied by the rapid formation of a sunspot structure in the flare region. The flare produced hard X-ray (HXR) emission less then 300 keV and no coronal mass ejection (CME). The absence of CME rules out magnetic rope eruption as a mechanism of helioseismic waves. The sunquake impact does not coincide with the strongest HXR source, which contradicts the standard beam-driven mechanism of sunquake generation. We discuss the connectivity of the flare energy release with the electric currents dynamics and show the potential importance of high-speed plasma flows in the lower solar atmosphere during the flare energy release.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 72 |
Journal | Astrophysical Journal |
Volume | 808 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 20 2015 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Space and Planetary Science
Keywords
- Sun: X-rays, gamma rays
- Sun: flares
- Sun: helioseismology
- sunspots