A statistical correlation of sunquakes based on their seismic, white light, and X-ray emission

TL;DR

This study investigates the correlation between sunquakes, high-energy X-ray emissions, and white-light enhancements during solar flares, revealing a strong link between seismic activity and visible continuum increases.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive correlation analysis linking sunquakes with X-ray and white-light emissions, using data from RHESSI and SDO/HMI.

Findings

18 sunquakes identified out of 75 flares

All sunquakes associated with visible continuum enhancement

Strong correlation between seismic detection methods and sunquake occurrence

Abstract

Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the transient seis- mic emission, i.e., sunquakes, from some solar flares. Some theories associate high-energy electrons and/or white-light emission with sunquakes. High-energy charged particles and their subsequent heating of the photosphere and/or chro- mosphere could induce acoustic waves in the solar interior. We carried out a correlative study of solar flares with emission in hard-X rays (HXRs), enhanced continuum emission at 6173{\AA}, and transient seismic emission. We selected those flares observed by RHESSI (Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager) with a considerable flux above 50 keV between January 1, 2010 and June 26, 2014. We then used data from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager onboard the Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO/HMI) to search for excess visible continuum emission and new sunquakes not previously reported. We found a total of 18 sunquakes out of 75 investigated. All of the sunquakes were associated with a enhancement of the visible continuum during the flare time. Finally, we calculated a coefficient of correlation for a set of dichotomic variables related to these observations. We found a strong correlation between two of the standard helioseismic detection techniques, and between sunquakes and visible continuum enhancements. We discuss the phenomenological connectivity between these physical quantities and the observational difficulties of detecting seismic signals and excess continuum radiation.