1. Flares and Eruptive Events Observed with the XRT on Hinode Kathy Reeves Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

2. The X-Ray Telescope The XRT is a collaborative effort between SAO (mirror, filters, structure and mechanical systems) and ISAS (camera sensor and electronics). The telescope is a modified Wolter I with a 35 cm aperture and a 2.71 m focal length.

3. New XRT Capabilities Unprecedented combination of field of view and image resolution (pixels 2.5x smaller than SXT) Extremely large dynamic range

4. Long duration limb flare

5. Limb flare close-up

6. Field Line Shrinkage Priest & Forbes, A&ARv, 2002

7. Descending intensity bands Distance along line (arcsec) Seconds since 12/17/06 18:10:47 Distance along line (arcsec) Seconds since 12/17/06 18:10:47

8. Flare intensity contours

9. Dipolarization in substorms Delcourt et al. JGR 1997

10. Downflows Observed with XRT TRACE 195 XRT med-Be

11. Downflow movie Movie courtesy D. McKenzie, MSU

12. Downflows as evidence for reconnection 1. Reconnected flux tube shrinks 2. Evacuated tube shrinking through current sheet appears as a void 3. Chromospheric evaporation fills the shrinking flux tube McKenzie & Hudson, ApJL, 1999

13. Downflows due to flare over the limb? 03/14/07 Ti/poly

14. XRT Temperature Coverage 9 X-ray filters + G-band in focal plane Broadest temperature range coverage of any imager to date

15. Determining Temperatures Useful for understanding location of flare heating, cooling processes in flares and solar eruptions. Differential Emission Measure Analysis method developed by M. Weber, E. DeLuca, L. Golub (see L. Golub et al., 2004)

16. Observations of a B2 flare

17. Emission Measures in Different Temperature Bins 2-3 MK3-5 MK5-10 MK

18. Emission Measures in Different Temperature Bins 10-20 MK20-50 MK50-100 MK (uncertainties in hot plasma bin are high)

19. Conclusions The high spatial and time resolution of XRT make it ideal for observing the morphology and dynamics of flaring plasma XRT has (already!) observed supra- arcade downflows and field line shrinkage, evidence for reconnection Broad thermal coverage will be useful in determining location of flare heating

20. Stay tuned for more great XRT flare data as solar maximum approaches... Hinode data release date: May 27 2006 XRT data archive web sites: SAO http://xrt.cfa.harvard.edu VSO http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/vso http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/vso More exciting Hinode/XRT results at AAS/SPD in Hawaii!