Effects of Supra-arcade Downflows Interacting with the Postflare Arcade

Abstract

Abstract Supra-arcade downflows (SADs) are dark voids descending through plasma above the postflare arcade. Although they are generally viewed as byproducts of flare reconnections in the corona, the nature of SADs is under debate. Here we investigated six distinct episodes of SADs observed in the post-maximum phase of an M-class flare of 2013 April 11. Differential emission measure analysis revealed that SAD cases occurring close to the flare maximum contain an enhanced hot plasma component at 5–7 MK whereas those occurring later exhibit a depression in hot plasma at 7–12 MK compared to the ambient supra-arcade plasma. On-disk location of the flare enabled us to examine in detail the interaction of SADs with the postflare arcade, whose effects include (1) transverse oscillations of period ∼160 s in the supra-arcade rays in the wake of voids, (2) footpoint brightening in 1700 Å whose peak is delayed by 22–46 s with respect to the SAD’s arrival at the top of the arcade, and (3) EUV intensity perturbations expanding and propagating with a speed of ∼400 km s−1. On the other hand, due to line-of-sight confusion in the optically thin corona, the ribbon enhancement following the interaction produces an illusion of plasma rebound at the top of the arcade, where the interaction fails to yield significant plasma heating. These effects indicate that the interaction mainly generates MHD waves propagating toward the surface, which may further produce quasi-periodic brightening at flare ribbons, therefore contributing to gradual phase emission from quasi-periodic EUV emission observed during the gradual phase of flares.