Comparisons of solar flare X-ray producing and escaping electrons from ∼ 2 TO 100 keV

Abstract

Using observations from the ISEE-3 spacecraft, we compare the X-ray producing electrons and escaping electrons from a solar flare on 8 November, 1978. The instantaneous 5 to 75 keV electron spectrum in the X-ray producing region is computed from the observed bremsstrahlung X-ray spectrum. Assuming that energy loss by Coulomb collisions (thick target) is the dominant electron loss process, the accelerated electron spectrum is obtained. The energy spectrum of the escaping electrons observed from 2 to 100 keV differs significantly from the spectra of the X-ray producing electrons and of the accelerated electrons, even when the energy loss which the escaping electrons experienced during their travel from the Sun to the Earth is taken into account. The observations are consistent with a model where the escaping electrons come from an extended X-ray producing region which ranges from the chromosphere to high in the corona. In this model the low energy escaping electrons (2–10 keV) come from the higher part of the extended X-ray source where the overlying column density is low, while the high energy electrons (20–100 keV) come from the entire X-ray source.