Multi-Spectral Observations of Flares

Francesca Zuccarello (Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia)

Abstract. Observations show that during solar flares radiation can be emitted across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, spanning from gamma rays to radio waves. These emissions, related to the conversion of magnetic energy into other forms of energy (kinetic, thermal, waves) through magnetic reconnection, are due to different physical processes that can occur in different layers of the Sun. This means that flare observations need to be carried out using instruments operating in different wave-bands in order to achieve a complete scenario of the processes going on. Taking into account that most of the radiative energy is emitted at optical and UV wavelengths, observations carried out from space, need to be complemented by observations carried out from ground-based telescopes. Nowadays, the possibility to carry on high temporal, spatial and spectral resolution from ground-based telescopes in coordinated campaigns with space-borne instruments (like, i.e., IRIS and HINODE) gives the opportunity to investigate the details of the flare emission at different wavelengths and can provide useful hints to understand these phenomena and compare observations with models. However, it is undoubt that sometimes the pointing to the flaring region is not an easy task, due to the necessity to provide the target coordinated to satellites with some hours in advance. Some problems arising from this issue will be discussed. Moreover, new projects related to flare catalogues and archives will be presented.

Invited Review