A Spatially Confined Long-Lived Stream of Solar Particles

Anderson, K. A. and W. M. Dougherty, A Spatially Confined Long-Lived Stream of Solar Particles, Sol. Phys., 103, 165-175 (1986) (ADS)

The cartoon

(click on the image for a larger version)

One of the pioneering observations in the very topical area of flare-related structure in the low corona and solar wind. To what extent does turbulence erase the clues to its origin? Flares inject fast electrons into interplanetary space, as revealed by radio type III bursts, and with less understanding, ions also "escape". Both electrons and ions at one AU display sharply-defined structures that tend to confuse the idea of pervasive turbulent structure. This paper was perhaps the first report of these non-dispersive shadows in SEPs, now often attributed to [1]. This observation matches what one might expect from flux-tube structure (imagine space-filling tortiglione) instead. Its appeal to a "storage region" seems a bit archaic now.

      Note that this cartoon, along with only a very few others, basically ignores the detailed magnetic structure of the flare itself. In fact, the shock does not seem to affect the field lines it is crossing! This also seems to be true of the canonical IP shock cartoon as well. The magnetic structure is of course the most interesting but least understood aspect of a flare, especially from the point of view of flare-accelerated particles.


[1] Mazur et al. 2000.

Date: 2010 February 23

Update: 2019 November 18