File:Supra-Arcade Downflows After Long Duration B-Flare -Hinode XRT-.webm

The animation above shows a long duration B-class flare that occurred on 2012/03/30 from NOAA active region 11450. At the time, the Hinode team was actually more interested in the adjacent region, AR 11451, which had produced some of the largest events of the current solar cycle during its previous appearance on the earthward face of the Sun. AR 11450 had only just begun to emerge one day prior to these observations, suggesting flux emergence from the solar interior as a possible trigger for this event. The resultant loop brightenings have the appearance of an unfurling flag, after which a series of supra-arcade downflows are visible in the upper-middle of the frame. These can also be seen, albeit very faintly, in the 131 Å channel of AIA. This event is of particular interest because downflows have not typically been observed in such low-energy events. For additional XRT observations of supra-arcade downflows, have a look at this previous XPOW (see original post, link below).

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