RHESSI Hard X-Ray Observations of an EUV Jet on August 21, 2003

Lindsay Glesener, Säm Krucker

RHESSI Workshop 9, Genova

September 4, 2009

Outline

• Reminder: Emerging flux model

• Observations of the August 21, 2003 jet– TRACE 171, 1550– RHESSI thermal and nonthermal

• Analysis of reconnection geometry

Emerging Flux Model

(Shibata et. al, 1996)

Emerging Flux Model

(Shibata et. al, 1996)

partially occulted

August 21, 2003 flare

• Movie!

• http://sprg.ssl.berkeley.edu/~glesener/movie.html

August 21, 2003 flare: Time ProfileRHESSI TRACE 1550

6-8 keV

25-50 keV

• Visible early (only)• Thermal (<8 keV) and

nonthermal (>10 keV) emission

• Overall RHESSI temp ~13 K• Reconnection outflow?

Coronal sourceContour levels 30, 50, 70, 90%

Red: 6-8 keVBlue: 10-25 keV

Hot jet

Cool jet

Hot jet

Cool jet

• Visible early (only)• Thermal (>8 keV) and

nonthermal (>10 keV) emission

• Overall RHESSI temp ~13 K• Reconnection outflow?

Coronal sourceContour levels 30, 50, 70, 90%

Red: 6-8 keVBlue: 10-25 keV

Hot jet

Cool jet

• Nonthermal emission (>25 keV)

• No thermal emission• Overall RHESSI temp ~22 MK

Base of the JetContour levels 30, 50, 70, 90%

Red: 6-8 keVBlue: 25-50 keV

Hot jet

Cool jet

• Present throughout flare and jet.• Thermal (<10 keV) and

nonthermal (>12 keV)• Temp ~24 MK• Thermal electron density

• Instantaneous nonthermal electron density at peak time:

– Integrate over energy, use ni=thermal density

– Result: nnontherm ~ 2x108 cm-3

Near-Limb SourceContour levels 30, 50, 70, 90%

Red: 6-8 keVBlue: 25-50 keV

€

dn

dE=1.21×1042 γ(γ −1)2 B(γ −

1

2)AE−γ +1/ 2

niV

€

ntherm =EM

V~ 1011cm−3

Hot jet

Cool jet

Near-Limb SourceContour levels 30, 50, 70, 90%

Red: 6-8 keVBlue: 25-50 keV

• Late in the flare, a small, hot loop becomes visible:

Hot jet

Cool jet

Near-Limb SourceContour levels 30, 50, 70, 90%

Red: 6-8 keVBlue: 25-50 keV

• Late in the flare, a small, hot loop becomes visible:

Conclusion…• RHESSI observed HXR from an EUV jet. The HXR locations

and timing could indicate emission from reconnection outflow jets, lending support to the emerging flux model.

Lingering Questions…• Other explanations for the coronal emission? Outflow jets?

Looptop source? Something else??

• Why do we see nonthermal emission from the jet base with no thermal emission?

Extra Stuff

RHESSI images

Early phase First peak Second peak

Contour levels 30, 50, 70, 90%

Red: 6-8 keVBlue: 10-25 keV

Red: 6-8 keVBlue: 25-50 keV

Red: 6-8 keVBlue: 25-50 keV

August 21, 2003 flare: Spectra

Early phase Late phase