| Name: Soumya Roy |
| Affiliation: Physical Research Laboratory |
| Conference ID: ASI2026_520 |
| Title: White-Light Continuum Observations across the Balmer Jump for SOL2024-10-03T12:18 |
| Abstract Type: Oral |
| Abstract Category: Sun, Solar System, Exoplanets, and Astrobiology |
| Author(s) and Co-Author(s) with Affiliation: Soumya Roy(Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad - 380009, India), Durgesh Tripathi(Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune - 411007, India), Sreejith Padinhatteeri(Manipal Centre for Natural Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal-576104, India), A. N. Ramaprakash(Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune - 411007, India), Janmejoy Sarkar(Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Gottingen-37077, Germany), Nived V. N.(Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune - 411007, India), Rahul Gopalakrishnan(Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune - 411007, India) |
| Abstract: Solar flares release enormous energy across the solar atmosphere, often producing enhanced continuum emission at visible and near-ultraviolet (NUV) wavelengths. The physical origin of this white-light (WL) emission remains debated: it may arise from hydrogen recombination continua in the chromosphere, characterized by a Balmer jump (Type I), or from deep photospheric heating that produces a blackbody-like continuum (Type II).
An X9 WL flare on 2024 October 3 was observed by the Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) on board Aditya-L1, capturing continuum emission across the Balmer jump. Together with coordinated observations from other instruments, this event provides an exceptional opportunity to investigate the nature of flare-driven continuum enhancement. We combine data from SUIT, the High-Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS), the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board SDO. SUIT delivers full-disk NUV images that track flare ribbon evolution and continuum brightening. IRIS provides high-resolution spectra and slit-jaw images that distinguish chromospheric line emission from continuum sources. AIA traces the response of the upper chromosphere and transition region, while HEL1OS measures hard X-ray spectra that constrain the properties of nonthermal electrons. By correlating the timing of hard X-ray bursts with WL and NUV intensity enhancements, we assess the role of energetic electrons in driving the observed continuum emission. This coordinated, multi-instrument dataset enables us to map energy transport from the corona to the lower solar atmosphere with unprecedented coverage. Together, the SUIT, IRIS, and AIA observations represent a significant step toward understanding how flare energy penetrates to the deepest visible layers of the Sun.
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