first rhessi results brian r. dennis rhessi mission scientist code 682
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First RHESSI Results Brian R. Dennis RHESSI Mission Scientist Code 682. Space Sciences Directorate Monthly Report Monday, 25 March 2002. The Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Image - RHESSI. Solar Flares. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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First RHESSI ResultsBrian R. Dennis
RHESSI Mission ScientistCode 682
Space Sciences DirectorateMonthly Report
Monday, 25 March 2002
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25 March 2002 RHESSI Results 2
The Reuven RamatyHigh Energy
SolarSpectroscopic Image
-RHESSI
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25 March 2002 RHESSI Results 3
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25 March 2002 RHESSI Results 4
Solar Flares
• Biggest explosions in the solar system- 1032 ergs or a billion megatons of TNT
• Heat plasma to tens of millions of degrees.• Accelerate particles to near the speed of light
- electrons to >100 MeV- ions to >10 GeV.
• Magnetic energy released in the solar corona – mechanism unknown.
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25 March 2002 RHESSI Results 5
Biggest Explosions(in tons of TNT equivalent)
• Conventional TNT 3.8x103
• Atomic bomb (Hiroshima) 1.3x104
• Hydrogen bomb 2x107
• Tunguska event (1908) 1x107
• Mount Pinatubo (1991) 7x107
• Largest earthquake (Chile 1960) 3x109
• Asteroid that wiped out dinosaurs 1014
• Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter 1014
• Largest solar flare 1016
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25 March 2002 RHESSI Results 6
Solar Flares How do you determine the energy release mechanism(s)?
• Observe emissions from the heated plasma
- Traditional H-alpha, UV, EUV (SOHO, TRACE), soft X-rays (Yohkoh)
- Reveals magnetic field morphology
- All energy release processes produce heat.
• Observe the accelerated particles in space
- ACE, WIND, SOHO, etc.
- Many particles do not escape from the Sun
- Transportation effects modify the information
• Observe the emissions from the accelerated particles
- Hard X-rays from electrons, gamma-rays from ions
- Provides the most direct signature of the energy release mechanism(s)
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25 March 2002 RHESSI Results 7
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25 March 2002 RHESSI Results 8
First RHESSI Flare Movie
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25 March 2002 RHESSI Results 9
What’s Going On?
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25 March 2002 RHESSI Results 10
RHESSI/SOHO/TRACE Overlay
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25 March 2002 RHESSI Results 11
RHESSI Flare Spectra
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25 March 2002 RHESSI Results 12
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25 March 2002 RHESSI Results 13
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25 March 2002 RHESSI Results 14
RHESSI Footpoint Flare
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25 March 2002 RHESSI Results 15
RHESSI – SOHO (EIT) Overlay
20 Feb. 2002 11:06 UT
Color: EIT
Contours: RHESSI 30 – 80 keV15 – 90% levels
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25 March 2002 RHESSI Results 16
Shutters-Out Sensitivity
GOES C-level
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25 March 2002 RHESSI Results 17
Gamma-Ray Burst
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25 March 2002 RHESSI Results 18
RHESSI Minimum Science Requirements
4.1.2.1 Perform hard X-ray (greater than 20 keV) imaging spectroscopy of solar flares with better than 4 arcsec spatial resolution and better than 3 keV energy resolution.
4.1.2.2 Perform high resolution (better than 3 keV FWHM at l MeV) spectroscopy of gamma-ray lines in solar flares.
4.1.2.3 Obtain observations of at least a hundred hard X-ray flares
and ten gamma-ray (greater than 300 keV) flares.
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25 March 2002 RHESSI Results 19
Solar Cycle Predictions
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25 March 2002 RHESSI Results 20
Summary
• RHESSI almost fully operational
• All data and analysis software released
• About 30 hard X-ray flares observed
• Waiting on the Sun for Gamma-ray flares
• Looking forward to many years of observations