Abstract
A review is given of observations and theories relevant to the solar flare of 21 May, 1980, 20 ∶ 50 UT, the best studied flare on record. For more than 30 hr before the flare there was filament activation and plasma heating to above 10 MK. A flare precursor was present ≥6 min before the flare onset. The flare started with filament activation (20 ∶ 50 UT), followed by thick-target heating of two footpoints and subsequent ablation and convective evaporation involving energies of 1 to 2 × 1031 erg. Coronal explosions occurred at 20 ∶ 57 UT (possibly associated with a type-II burst) and at 21 ∶ 04 UT (associated with an Hα spray?). Post-flare loops were first seen at 20 ∶ 57 UT, and their upward motion is interpreted as a manifestation of successive field-line reconnections. A type-IV radio burst which later changed into a type-I noise storm was related to a giant coronal arch located just below the radio noise storm region. Some implications and difficulties these observations present to current flare theories are mentioned.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Achterberg, A. and Kuijpers, J.: 1984, Astron. Astrophys. 130, 111.
Aly, J. J.: 1984, preprint.
Antonucci, E.: 1982, Mem. Soc. Astron. Ital. 53, 495.
Antonucci, E. and Dennis, B. R.: 1983, Solar Phys. 86, 67.
Antonucci, E., Gabriel, A. H., Acton, L. W., Culhane, J. L., Doyle, J. G., Leibacher, J. W., Machado, M. E., and Rapley, C. G.: 1982, Solar Phys. 78, 107.
Antonucci, E., Gabriel, A. H., and Dennis, B. R.: 1984, Astrophys. J. 287, 917.
Antonucci, E., Dennis, B. R., Gabriel, A. H., and Simnett, G. M.: 1985, Solar Phys. 96, 129.
Anzer, U. and Pneuman, G. W.: 1982, Solar Phys. 79, 129.
Bely-Dubau, F., Dubau, J., Faucher, F., Gabriel, A. H., Loulegrue, M., Steenman-Clark, L., Volonté, S., Antonucci, E., Rapley, C. G.: 1982, Monthly Notices Roy. Astron. Soc. 201, 1155.
De Jager, C.: 1985a, Solar Phys. 96, 143.
De Jager, C.: 1985b, Solar Phys. 98, 267.
De Jager, C. and Boelee, A.: 1984, Solar Phys. 92, 227.
De Jager, C., Boelee, A., and Rust, D. M.: 1984, Solar Phys. 92, 245.
De Jager, C., Machado, M. E., Schadee, A., Strong, K. T., Švestka, Z., Woodgate, B. E., and van Tend, W.: 1983, Solar Phys. 84, 205.
Dennis, B. R., Lemen, J. and Simnett, G.: 1985, The Relationship between Hard and Soft X-Rays in Flares Observed with the Solar Maximum Mission during 1980, preprint, also reproduced in Chapter V of SMM Workshop Proceedings.
Duijveman, A.: 1983, Solar Phys. 84, 189.
Duijveman, A. and Hoyng, P.: 1983, Solar Phys. 86, 279.
Duijveman, A., Hoyng, P., and Machado, M. E.: 1982, Solar Phys. 81, 137.
Forbes, T. G. and Priest, E. R.: 1983, Solar Phys. 84, 169.
Gaizauskas, V.: 1985, in Proceedings of the NASA-SMM Workshop on Solar Flares, Section 5, Chapter 3.
Harvey, J. W.: 1983, Adv. Space Res. 2, No. 11, 31.
Hick, P. and Švestka, Z.: 1985, Solar Phys. (in press).
Hoyng, P.: 1982, The Observatory 102, 119.
Hoyng, P., Duijveman, A., Machado, M. E., Rust, D. M., Švestka, Z., Boelee, A., de Jager, C., Frost, K. J., Lafleur, H., Simnett, G. M., van Beek, H. F., and Woodgate, B. E.: 1981, Astrophys. J. 246, L155.
Jackson, B. V., Schadee, A., and Švestka, Z.: 1985 (in preparation).
Kopp, R. A. and Pneuman, G. W.: 1976, Solar Phys. 50, 85.
Kopp, R. A. and Poletto, G.: 1985, in D. Neidig (ed.), Proc. of Sac. Peak Summer Meeting on Low-Temperature Flare Plasma, in press.
Kuperus, M. and van Tend, W.: 1981, Solar Phys. 71, 125.
Lemmens, A. and de Jager, C.: 1985, Solar Phys. (submitted).
McCabe, M. K., Švestka, Z, Howard, R. A., Jackson, B. V., and Sheeley, N. L., Jr.: 1985, Solar Phys. (submitted).
Mewe, R., Gronenschild, E. H. B. M., and van den Oord, G. H. J.: 1985, Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. (in press).
Nolte, J. T., Gerassimenko, M., Krieger, A. S., Petrasso, R. D., and Švestka, Z.: 1979, Solar Phys 62, 123.
Pick, M.: 1961, Ann. Astrophys. 24, 183.
Schadee, A., De Jager, C., and Švestka, Z.: 1983, Solar Phys. 89, 287. (Abbreviated as SDJS).
Sheeley, N. R., Howard, R. A., Koomen, M. J., Michels, D. J., Schwenn, R., Muhlhauser, K. H., and Rosenbauer, H.: 1984, J. Geophys. Res. 90, 163.
Sturrock, P. A.: 1968, IAU Symp. 35, 471.
Švestka, Z.: 1984a, Solar Phys. 94, 171.
Švestka, Z.: 1984b, Mem. Soc. Astron. Ital. 55, 725.
Švestka, Z. and Poletto, G.: 1985, Solar Phys. 97, 113.
Švestka, Z., Stewart, R. T., Hoyng, P., van Tend, W., Acton, L. W., Gabriel, A. H., Rapley, C. G., and 8 co-authors: 1982, Solar Phys. 75, 305.
Švestka, Z., Schrijver, J., Somov, B., Dennis, B. R., Woodgate, B. E., Fürst, E., Hirth, W., Klein, L., and Raoult, A.: 1983, Solar Phys. 85, 313.
Tsuneta, S., Takakura, T., Nitta, N., Ohki, K., and 4 co-authors: 1983, Solar. Phys. 86, 313.
Wild, J. P.: 1969, Solar Phys. 9, 260.
Wu, S. T., de Jager, C., Dennis, B. R., Hudson, H. S., Simnett, G. M., Strong, K. T., and 15 co-authors: 1985, in M. R. Kundu and B. E. Woodgate (eds.), Proc. SMM Workshop on Solar Flares, (in preparation).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
De Jager, C., Švestka, Z. 21 May 1980 flare review. Sol Phys 100, 435–463 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00158440
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00158440