Obscuration of Flare Emission by an Eruptive Prominence

TL;DR

This study observes how an eruptive prominence obscures microwave flare emission, using dimming features to analyze prominence temperature and heating distribution, with corroborating EUV evidence.

Contribution

It introduces a method to derive prominence temperature and heating distribution from microwave dimming features during flare obscuration.

Findings

Prominence heats above quiet Sun temperature at 17 GHz

Dimming duration corresponds to prominence passage time

EUV observations confirm microwave obscuration evidence

Abstract

We report on the eclipsing of microwave flare emission by an eruptive prominence from a neighboring region as observed by the Nobeyama Radioheliograph at 17 GHz. The obscuration of the flare emission appears as a dimming feature in the microwave flare light curve. We use the dimming feature to derive the temperature of the prominence and the distribution of heating along the length of the filament. We find that the prominence is heated to a temperature above the quiet Sun temperature at 17 GHz. The duration of the dimming is the time taken by the eruptive prominence in passing over the flaring region. We also find evidence for the obscuration in EUV images obtained by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) mission.