Spectral evolution of multiply impulsive solar bursts

Abstract

Some results from the analysis of a set of multiply impulsive hard X-ray and microwave solar bursts are presented, showing that some bursts can exhibit widely different magnetic-field strengths at different times. Two categories of microwave spectral behavior are identified: those events during which the microwave turnover frequency (MTF) and spectral shape (SS) remain the same from peak to peak, and those during which the MTF and SS change significantly. These categories correspond to two classes of multiply impulsive bursts: those for which the emission can be characterized by a constant magnetic field and therefore a single source region, and those in which groups of component spikes appear to originate in regions of different magnetic-field strengths, corresponding to separate source regions which flare sequentially. With regard to the latter type, examples are presented, the discrete flaring regions are examined, and their spatial separations are estimated.