Evolution of Elemental Abundances During B-Class Solar Flares: Soft X-ray Spectral Measurements with Chandrayaan-2 XSM

TL;DR

This study analyzes the evolution of elemental abundances during small B-class solar flares using soft X-ray spectra from Chandrayaan-2, revealing abundance decreases during flare peaks and rapid recovery, supporting the chromospheric evaporation model.

Contribution

First measurements of absolute elemental abundances during B-class solar flares, providing new insights into abundance evolution and flare dynamics.

Findings

Abundances decrease towards photospheric values during flare peaks.

Abundances quickly return to pre-flare coronal levels during decay.

Results support the chromospheric evaporation model.

Abstract

The Solar X-ray Spectrometer (XSM) payload onboard Chandrayaan-2 provides disk-integrated solar spectra in the 1-15 keV energy range with an energy resolution of 180 eV (at 5.9 keV) and a cadence of 1~second. During the period from September 2019 to May 2020, covering the minimum of Solar Cycle 24, it observed nine B-class flares ranging from B1.3 to B4.5. Using time-resolved spectroscopic analysis during these flares, we examined the evolution of temperature, emission measure, and absolute elemental abundances of four elements -- Mg, Al, Si, and S. These are the first measurements of absolute abundances during such small flares and this study offers a unique insight into the evolution of absolute abundances as the flares evolve. Our results demonstrate that the abundances of these four elements decrease towards their photospheric values during the peak phase of the flares. During the decay phase, the abundances are observed to quickly return to their pre-flare coronal values. The depletion of elemental abundances during the flares is consistent with the standard flare model, suggesting the injection of fresh material into coronal loops as a result of chromospheric evaporation. To explain the quick recovery of the so-called coronal "First Ionization Potential (FIP) bias" we propose two scenarios based on the Ponderomotive force model.