(Click image to view movie.)
A day in the life of an active region (movie)
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Four views of an active region over the course of a
day (10-Dec-2007). The upper left image is constructed
from combined long and short exposures allowing us to
see both the hot bright core and the surrounding cooler loops.
The thicker filters (Be_Med, Al_Thick and Be_Thick) show progressively
hotter plasma (the x-ray emission from cool plasma is more
easily absorbed by the thick filters, so the image is limited to
hotter plasma in the thicker filters).
During the course of the
day many microflares are seen. XRT observations with
multiple filters show both the morphology of the microflares and
their thermal structure. Detailed investigations of these common
reconnection events with Hinode (SOT, EIS and XRT) and RHESSI are
underway. The combined instrument suite can observe the magnetic
field structure (SOT), the thermal plasma temperature and velocity
(EIS), the coronal morphology of both the flareing plasma and its surroundings
(XRT) and the properties of the non-thermal (high energy) electrons RHESSI.
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(prepared by E. DeLuca)
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