Submillimeter and X-ray observations of an X class flare

Abstract

The GOES X1.5 class flare that occurred on August 30, 2002 at 1327:30 UT is one of the few events detected so far at submillimeter wavelengths. We present a detailed analysis of this flare combining radio observations from 1.5 to 212 GHz (an upper limit of the flux is also provided at 405 GHz) and X-ray. Although the observations of radio emission up to 212 GHz indicates that relativistic electrons with energies of a few MeV were accelerated, no significant hard X-ray emission was detected by RHESSI above ∼250 keV. Images at 12-20 and 50-100 keV reveal a very compact, but resolved, source of about ∼10" ×10". EUV TRACE images show a multi-kernel structure suggesting a complex (multipolar) magnetic topology. During the peak time the radio spectrum shows an extended flatness from ∼7 to 35 GHz. Modeling the optically thin part of the radio spectrum as gyrosynchrotron emission we obtained the electron spectrum (spectral index d, instantaneous number of emitting electrons). It is shown that in order to keep the expected X-ray emission from the same emitting electrons below the RHESSI background at 250 keV, a magnetic field above 500 G is necessary. On the other hand, the electron spectrum deduced from radio observations =50 GHz is harder than that deduced from 70-250 keV X-ray data, meaning that there must exist a breaking energy around a few hundred keV. During the decay of the impulsive phase, a hardening of the X-ray spectrum is observed which is interpreted as a hardening of the electron distribution spectrum produced by the diffusion due to Coulomb collisions of the trapped electrons in a medium with an electron density of ne ∼ 3-5 × 1010 cm-3. © 2009 ESO.