Solar Gamma Rays and their Correlation with Space and Ground-Based Observations

Extract

Thus far, only two experiments have detected solar γ-radiation with energy significantly greater than 200 keV. In both events the γ-ray emission occurred during a solar flare. The first observation was in 1958 by Peterson and Winckler (1959), who recorded a burst of radiation that occurred in less than 18 sec from a class-2 solar flare. The radiation spectrum peaked in the 200- to 500-keV region. Recently, Cline et al. (1967) recorded in the OGO-3 satellite three rapid γ-ray bursts in the 80-keV to 1-MeV energy range and measured the integral energy spectrum. The measurements were made on July 7, 1966, during the first high-intensity flare (importance 3) of the new solar cycle. Many attempts have been made to measure higher energy γ-radiation from the quiet Sun and from solar flares, but no flux has been detected; this is primarily due to the fact that no high-energy γ-ray detectors have viewed a major solar flare during the maximum of the optical or microwave burst. However, theoretical estimates of the flux of solar γ-rays, based on a simple flare model, indicate a readily detectable flux from a major flare even to photon energies of 100 MeV. It is therefore important that experiments be performed during the coming maximum of the solar cycle to investigate this region of the electromagnetic spectrum.