The optical flare

For the purpose of studying the statistics, dynamics, and morphology of parts of the solar surface with enhanced emission measure and considerable inhomogeneities of electron concentration, it is suggested that a new type of solar observation be introduced: taking filtergrams by means of interference filters, calculated for the Balmer continuum limit and the region of the blue continuum. To determine accurately the inhomogeneity of the electron concentration in an object, it is suggested to scan the surface of the object and record the spectrum of the blue continuum by means of a spectrochronograph.A large number of observations of the Sun in He are now being made which can be used to determine areas characterized by increased temperature. These observations have yielded an enormous volume of information on various solar activity phenomena, their morphology, dynamics, and statistics. A viable addition to these data would be provided by observations which would enable locations of enhanced plasma density in the solar atmosphere to be studied. These important observations could be organized in connection with the recently reported studies Kurochka and Kiryukhina, 1989;Kurochka, 1991) of electron concentration (ne) inhomogeneities in solar formations. These data can be obtained from the analysis of the distribution of the radiation intensity at the hydrogen series limit (3646 < 2 < 3900 A), i.e., in the region of the so-called blue continuum (Zirin, 1983). These studies can only be made if the radiation intensity of the B almer continuum is sufficient to enable the distribution of the intensity in wavelengths to be determined reliably, i.e., if the emission measure along the line of sight is sufficiently high (n2LTe 3/2 = ~ n2eTe 3/2 dl) where L is the resulting volume of the extent of the plasma region, T e the electron temperature, and I is a variable. This indicates full analogy with observations in He, in which considerable temperature differences in the atmosphere cannot be determined due to the low intensity of the line radiation.The intensity distribution can be best determined by means of a spectrograph, but regions with enhanced emission measure in flares and prominences occur rarely (i.e., regions with an intensive Balmer continuum) and solar atmospheric data are lacking

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The Balmer jump in astrophysical hydrogen plasmas

Kurochka

1995

Sol Phys

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The optical flare

Cited by 3 publications

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Preflare Activity

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On the recording of regions with increased plasma density on the Sun

The Balmer jump in astrophysical hydrogen plasmas

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