APS Logo

Multiple Regions of Radio Quasi-Periodic Pulsations during the Impulsive Phase of a C1.8 Solar Flare

ORAL

Abstract

Flare-associated Quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs) can reveal essential energy release, transport, and modulation processes during flares. However, the paucity of spatially resolved observations with a fast time cadence blocks us from improve our understanding of the physical nature of such QPPs. Here, we report ultra-high cadence radio imaging spectroscopy observations of QPPs using data from Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) during the impulsive phase of a C1.8-class solar flare on February 18, 2016. The radio QPPs, observed in the 1--2 GHz L band with a sub-second cadence, consist of three spatially distinct radio sources with different physical characteristics, including periodicity, duration, bandwidth, and polarization. Two QPP sources are located near the conjugate footpoints of the brightening flare arcades with the opposite sense of polarization. An additional QPP source coincides with the location of a looptop X-ray source, which also shows a similar quasi-periodic pattern in its light curve. We suggest that the two footpoint radio QPP sources are likely due to electron cyclotron maser emission from trapped energetic electrons, while the looptop radio/X-ray QPP source may be more inherently related to modulations of the flare energy release.

–

Authors

  • Yingjie Luo

    New Jersey Inst of Tech

  • Bin Chen

    New Jersey Institute of Technology, New Jersey Inst of Tech

  • Sijie Yu

    New Jersey Institute of Technology, New Jersey Inst of Tech

  • Blakesley Burkhart

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology, None, University of Colorado Boulder, Virginia Tech, MIT Haystack Observatory, University of Alabama, Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland College Park, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, Rutgers University, Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics, New Jersey Inst of Tech, Flatiron Institute, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Los Alamos National Laboratory, The College of William \& Mary, Cornell University, Cornell University, California Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), New Jersey Institute of Technology, New Jersey Institute of Tech, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Princeton University, University of Pittsburgh, DEVCOM Army Research Lab, University of Louisville, University of Cape Town, Rutgers University/Flatiron Institute, Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Australian National University, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey

  • Blakesley Burkhart

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology, None, University of Colorado Boulder, Virginia Tech, MIT Haystack Observatory, University of Alabama, Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland College Park, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, Rutgers University, Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics, New Jersey Inst of Tech, Flatiron Institute, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Los Alamos National Laboratory, The College of William \& Mary, Cornell University, Cornell University, California Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), New Jersey Institute of Technology, New Jersey Institute of Tech, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Princeton University, University of Pittsburgh, DEVCOM Army Research Lab, University of Louisville, University of Cape Town, Rutgers University/Flatiron Institute, Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Australian National University, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey