Sun-as-a-star Study of an X-class Solar Flare with Spectroscopic Observations of CHASE

Abstract

Sun-as-a-star spectroscopic characteristics of solar flares can be used as a benchmark for the detection and analysis of stellar flares. Here, we study the Sun-as-a-star properties of an X1.0 solar flare, using high-resolution spectroscopic data obtained by the Chinese H α Solar Explorer (CHASE). A noise reduction algorithm based on discrete Fourier transformation is first employed to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio of the space-integral H α spectrum, with a focus on its typical characteristics. For the flare of interest, we find that the average H α profile displays a strong emission at the line center and an obvious line broadening. It also presents a clear red asymmetry, corresponding to a redshift velocity of around 50 km s ^−1 that slightly decreases with time, consistent with previous results. Furthermore, we study how the size of the space-integral region affects the characteristics of the flare's Sun-as-a-star H α profile. It is found that although the redshift velocity calculated from the H α profile remains unchanged, the detectability of the characteristics weakens as the space-integral region becomes larger. An upper limit on the size of the target region where the red asymmetry is detectable is estimated. It is also found that the intensity in H α profiles, measured by the equivalent widths of the spectra, are significantly underestimated if the H α spectra are further averaged in the time domain.

Keywords

• The Sun
• Solar flares
• Solar flare spectra
• Stellar flares