On the Origin of a Sunquake during the 29 March 2014 X1 Flare

TL;DR

This study investigates the origin of a sunquake during the 2014 X1 solar flare, analyzing spectro-polarimetric data to assess whether acoustic impulses or Lorentz forces caused the seismic event, and finds the energy flux insufficient to explain the sunquake.

Contribution

It provides detailed spectro-polarimetric analysis of the flare's photospheric layers, challenging previous assumptions about the energy sources of sunquakes during flares.

Findings

Infrared FIRS data remained unsaturated during the flare.

Penetration depth of flare heating is about 100 km in photospheric layers.

Energy flux estimates are too low to account for the sunquake.

Abstract

Helioseismic data from the HMI instrument have revealed a sunquake associated with the X1 flare SOL2014-03-29T17:48 in active region NOAA 12017. We try to discover if acoustic-like impulses or actions of the Lorentz force caused the sunquake. We analyze spectro-polarimetric data obtained with the Facility Infrared Spectrometer (FIRS) at the Dunn Solar Telescope (DST). Fortuitously the FIRS slit crossed the flare kernel close to the acoustic source, during the impulsive phase. The infrared FIRS data remain unsaturated throughout the flare. Stokes profiles of lines of Si I 1082.7 nm and He I 1083.0 nm are analyzed. At the flare footpoint, the Si I 1082.7 nm core intensity increases by a factor of several, the IR continuum increases by 4 +/- 1%. Remarkably, the Si I core resembles the classical Ca II K line's self-reversed profile. With nLTE radiative models of H, C, Si and Fe these properties set the penetration depth of flare heating to 100 +/- 100 km, i.e. photospheric layers. Estimates of the non-magnetic energy flux are at least a factor of two less than the sunquake energy flux. Milne-Eddington inversions of the Si I line show that the local magnetic energy changes are also too small to drive the acoustic pulse. Our work raises several questions: Have we "missed" the signature of downward energy propagation? Is it intermittent in time and/or non-local? Does the 1-2 s photospheric radiative damping time discount compressive modes?