Click images for movies. Also available on YouTube
Three X-Flares in Two Days from AR 11429
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In first few minutes (UT) of March 7, 2012, NOAA active region 11429 let loose a massive X5.4 flare, the second largest of the current solar cycle after the X6.9 event on August 9, 2011. The left panel above shows XRT's view through its thickest filter, allowing us to see into the hottest part of the region and providing a great compliment to the spectacular images taken by AIA, which observes lower-temperature material. This movie strings together observations from several of XRT's filter combinations, which causes the slight flicker from frame to frame but gives us the full time evolution of the event in one sequence. After the X5.4 flare at 00:24 UT, a second X-flare goes off around 01:14 UT, after which we see expanding post-flare loops. If that wasn't enough, two days prior the same region fired off an X1.1 flare that was beautifully positioned on the east limb. See here on the right in the midst of the associated coronal mass ejection (CME), the attached movie also captures material being flung off into space almost an hour earlier. With a little over a week left to go before 11429 disappears around the west limb, we may still be treated with another great flare or two in the coming days. Keywords: Flare, CME, Post-Flare Loops Filters: Be_thin, Ti_poly, Al_poly, Al_thick, Al_med, Be_med, Al_thick, Be_thick |
(Prepared by Patrick McCauley)
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