On Flare Driven Global Waves

Abstract

We recently presented evidence of a strong correlation between the energy in the high-frequency part of the acoustic spectrum of the Sun and the solar X-ray flux Karoff & Kjeldsen (2008). The discovery indicates that flares drive global oscillations in the Sun in the same way that the entire Earth is set ringing for several weeks after a major earthquake, such as the 2004 December Sumatra-Andaman one. If this indication turns out to be true we might be able to use the relation between flares and the energy in the high-frequency part of the acoustic spectrum to detect e.g. flares on the far side of the Sun and flares on other solar-like stars. But, the discovery also opens many new questions such as why is it only the high-frequency part of the acoustic spectrum that is correlated with the X-ray flux? And, are there energy enough in solar flares do drive global oscillations?

6 pages, submitted to the proceedings for the GONG 2008/SOHO XXI meeting on Solar-stellar dynamos as revealed by helio- and asteroseismology, August 2008, Boulder, Colorado