arXiv subjects

Weiqun Gan

Publications and source records attributed to Weiqun Gan.

44 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

On the Power-Law Distributions of X-ray Fluxes from Solar Flares Observed with GOES

Power-law frequency distributions of the peak flux of solar flare X-ray emission have been studied extensively and attributed to a system of self-organized criticality (SOC). In this paper, we first show that, so long as the shape of the normalized light curve is not correlated with the peak flux, the flux histogram of solar flares also follows a power-law distribution with the same spectral index as the power-law frequency distribution of the peak flux, which may partially explain why power-law distributions are ubiquitous in the Universe. We then show that the spectral indexes of the histograms of soft X-ray fluxes observed by GOES satellites in two different energy channels are different: the higher energy channel has a harder distribution than the lower energy channel, which challenges the universal power-law distribution predicted by SOC models and implies a very soft distribution of thermal energy content of plasmas probed by the GOES. The temperature ($T$) distribution, on the other hand, approaches a power-law distribution with an index of 2 for high values of $T$. Application of SOC models to statistical properties of solar flares needs to be revisited.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2015

Why does the apparent mass of a coronal mass ejection increase?

Mass is one of the most fundamental parameters characterizing the dynamics of a coronal mass ejection (CME). It has been found that CME apparent mass measured from the brightness enhancement in coronagraph images shows an increasing trend during its evolution in the corona. However, the physics behind it is not clear. Does the apparent mass gain come from the mass outflow from the dimming regions in the low corona, or from the pileup of the solar wind plasma around the CME when it propagates outwards from the Sun? We analyzed the mass evolution of six CME events. Their mass can increase by a factor of 1.6 to 3.2 from 4 to 15 Rs in the field of view (FOV) of the coronagraph on board the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO). Over the distance about 7 to 15 Rs, where the coronagraph occulting effect can be negligible, the mass can increase by a factor of 1.3 to 1.7. We adopted the `snow-plough' model to calculate the mass contribution of the piled-up solar wind in the height range from about 7 to 15 Rs. For 2/3 of the events, the solar wind pileup is not sufficient to explain the measured mass increase. In the height range from about 7 to 15 Rs, the ratio of the modeled to the measured mass increase is roughly larger than 0.55. Although the ratios are believed to be overestimated, the result gives evidence that the solar wind pileup probably makes a non-negligible contribution to the mass increase. It is not clear yet whether the solar wind pileup is a major contributor to the final mass derived from coronagraph observations. However, our study suggests that the solar wind pileup plays increasingly important role in the mass increase as a CME moves further away from the Sun.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2015

Observation of solar high energy gamma and X-ray emission and solar energetic particles

We considered 18 solar flares observed between June 2010 and July 2012, in which high energy >100 MeV γ-emission was registered by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) aboard FermiGRO. We examined for these γ-events soft X-ray observations by GOES, hard X-ray observations by the Anti-Coincidence Shield of the SPectrometer aboard INTEGRAL (ACS SPI) and the Gamma-Ray burst Monitor (GBM) aboard FermiGRO. Hard X-ray and π0-decay γ-ray emissions are used as tracers of electron and proton acceleration, respectively. Bursts of hard X-ray were observed by ACS SPI during impulsive phase of 13 events. Bursts of hard X-ray >100 keV were not found during time intervals, when prolonged hard γ-emission was registered by LAT/FermiGRO. Those events showing prolonged high-energy gamma-ray emission not accompanied by >100 keV hard X-ray emission are interpreted as an indication of either different acceleration processes for protons and electrons or as the presence of a proton population accelerated during the impulsive phase of the flare and subsequently trapped by some magnetic structure. In-situ energetic particle measurements by GOES and STEREO (High Energy Telescope, HET) shows that five of these γ-events were not accompanied by SEP events at 1 AU, even when multi-point measurements including STEREO are taken into account. Therefore accelerated protons are not always released into the heliosphere. A longer delay between the maximum temperature and the maximum emission measure characterises flares with prolonged high energy γ-emission and solar proton events.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

Radial Flow Pattern of a Slow CME

Height-time plots of the leading edge of coronal mass ejections (CME) have often been used to study CME kinematics. We propose a new method to analyze the CME kinematics in more detail by determining the radial mass transport process throughout the entire CME. Thus our method is able to estimate not only the speed of the CME front but also the radial flow speed inside the CME. We have applied the method to a slow CME with an average leading edge speed about 480 km s$^{-1}$. In the Lagrangian frame, the speed of the individual CME mass elements stay almost constant within 2 and 15 R$_S$, the range over which we analyzed the CME. Hence we have no evidence of net radial forces acting on parts of the CME in this range nor of a pile-up of mass ahead of the CME. We find evidence that the leading edge trajectory obtained by tie-pointing may gradually lag behind the Lagrangian front-side trajectories derived from our analysis. Our results also allow a much more precise estimate of the CME energy. Compared with conventional estimates using the CME total mass and leading-edge motion, we find that the latter may overestimate the kinetic energy and the gravitational potential energy.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2015

Imaging coronal magnetic-field reconnection in a solar flare

Magnetic-field reconnection is believed to play a fundamental role in magnetized plasma systems throughout the Universe1, including planetary magnetospheres, magnetars and accretion disks around black holes. This letter present extreme ultraviolet and X-ray observations of a solar flare showing magnetic reconnection with a level of clarity not previously achieved. The multi-wavelength extreme ultraviolet observations from SDO/AIA show inflowing cool loops and newly formed, outflowing hot loops, as predicted. RHESSI X-ray spectra and images simultaneously show the appearance of plasma heated to >10 MK at the expected locations. These two data sets provide solid visual evidence of magnetic reconnection producing a solar flare, validating the basic physical mechanism of popular flare models. However, new features are also observed that need to be included in reconnection and flare studies, such as three-dimensional non-uniform, non-steady and asymmetric evolution.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2014

Solar Magnetized Tornadoes: Rotational Motion in a Tornado-like Prominence

Su et al. 2012 proposed a new explanation for filament formation and eruption, where filament barbs are rotating magnetic structures driven by underlying vortices on the surface. Such structures have been noticed as tornado-like prominences when they appear above the limb. They may play a key role as the source of plasma and twist in filaments. However, no observations have successfully distinguished rotational motion of the magnetic structures in tornado-like prominences from other motions such as oscillation and counter-streaming plasma flows. Here we report evidence of rotational motions in a tornado-like prominence. The spectroscopic observations in two coronal lines were obtained from a specifically designed Hinode/EIS observing program. The data revealed the existence of both cold and million-degree-hot plasma in the prominence leg, supporting the so-called "the prominence-corona transition region". The opposite velocities at the two sides of the prominence and their persistent time evolution, together with the periodic motions evident in SDO/AIA dark structures, indicate a rotational motion of both cold and hot plasma with a speed of $\sim$5 km s$^{-1}$.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2013

Kelvin-Helmholtz instability of a coronal streamer

The shear-flow-driven instability can play an important role in energy transfer processes in coronal plasma. We present for the first time the observation of a kink-like oscillation of a streamer probably caused by the streaming kinkmode Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. The wave-like behavior of the streamer was observed by Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph Experiment (LASCO) C2 and C3 aboard SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). The observed wave had a period of about 70 to 80 minutes, and its wavelength increased from 2 Rsun to 3 Rsun in about 1.5 hours. The phase speeds of its crests and troughs decreased from 406 \pm 20 to 356 \pm 31kms^{-1} during the event. Within the same heliocentric range, the wave amplitude also appeared to increase with time. We attribute the phenomena to the MHD Kelvin-Helmholtz instability which occur at a neutral sheet in a fluid wake. The free energy driving the instability is supplied by the sheared flow and sheared magnetic field across the streamer plane. The plasma properties of the local environment of the streamer were estimated from the phase speed and instability threshold criteria.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2012

Solar Magnetized "Tornadoes": Relation to Filaments

Solar magnetized "tornadoes", a phenomenon discovered in the solar atmosphere, appear as tornado-like structures in the corona but root in the photosphere. Like other solar phenomena, solar tornadoes are a feature of magnetized plasma and therefore differ distinctly from terrestrial tornadoes. Here we report the first analysis of solar "tornadoes" {Two papers which focused on different aspect of solar tornadoes were published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters (Li et al. 2012) and Nature (Wedemeyer-Böhm et al. 2012), respectively, during the revision of this Letter.}. A detailed case study of two events indicates that they are rotating vertical magnetic structures probably driven by underlying vortex flows in the photosphere. They usually exist as a group and relate to filaments/prominences, another important solar phenomenon whose formation and eruption are still mysteries. Solar tornadoes may play a distinct role in the supply of mass and twists to filaments. These findings could lead to a new explanation to filament formation and eruption.

astro-ph.SR↗