M-Class Solar Flares in Solar Cycles 23 and 24: Properties and Space Weather Relevance

A comprehensive statistical analysis on the properties and accompanied phenomena of all M-class solar flares (as measured in soft X-rays) in the last two solar cycles (1996–2019) is presented here with a focus on their space weather potential. The information about the parent active region and the underlying sunspot (Hale) type is collected for each case, where possible, in order to identify photospheric precondition as precursors for the solar flare eruption or confinement. Associations with coronal mass ejections, solar energetic particles, and interplanetary radio emissions are also evaluated and discussed as possible proxies for flare eruption and subsequent space weather relevance. The results show that the majority (∼80%) of the analyzed M-class flares are of β, β-γ, and β-γ-δ magnetic field configuration. The M-class population of flares is accompanied by CMEs in 41% of the cases and about half of the flare sample has been associated with radio emission from electron beams. A much lower association (≲10%) is obtained with shock wave radio signatures and energetic particles. Furthermore, a parametric scheme is proposed in terms of occurrence rates between M-class flares and a variety of accompanied solar phenomena as a function of flare sub-classes or magnetic type. This study confirms the well-known reduced but inevitable space weather importance of M-class flares.

Characterising Radio Emissions in Cosmic Filaments

<p>A growing number of radio studies probe galaxy clusters into the low-power regime in which star formation is the dominant source of radio emission. However, at the time of writing no comparably deep observations have focused exclusively on the radio populations of cosmic filaments. This thesis describes the ATCA 2.1 GHz observations and subsequent analysis of two such regions - labelled Zone 1 (between clusters A3158 and A3125/A3128) and Zone 2 (between A3135 and A3145) - in the Horologium-Reticulum Supercluster (HRS). Source count profiles of both populations are discussed and a radio luminosity function for Zone 1 is generated. While the source counts of Zone 2 appear to be consistent with expected values, Zone 1 exhibits an excess of counts across a wide flux range (1 mJy</p>

Characterising Radio Emissions in Cosmic Filaments

<p>A growing number of radio studies probe galaxy clusters into the low-power regime in which star formation is the dominant source of radio emission. However, at the time of writing no comparably deep observations have focused exclusively on the radio populations of cosmic filaments. This thesis describes the ATCA 2.1 GHz observations and subsequent analysis of two such regions - labelled Zone 1 (between clusters A3158 and A3125/A3128) and Zone 2 (between A3135 and A3145) - in the Horologium-Reticulum Supercluster (HRS). Source count profiles of both populations are discussed and a radio luminosity function for Zone 1 is generated. While the source counts of Zone 2 appear to be consistent with expected values, Zone 1 exhibits an excess of counts across a wide flux range (1 mJy</p>

Simultaneous X-ray and radio observations of the transitional millisecond pulsar candidate CXOU J110926.4–650224

We present the results of simultaneous observations of the transitional millisecond pulsar (tMSP) candidate CXOU J110926.4–650224 with the XMM-Newton satellite and the MeerKAT telescope. The source was found at an average X-ray luminosity of LX ≃ 7 × 1033 erg s−1 over the 0.3−10 keV band (assuming a distance of 4 kpc) and displayed a peculiar variability pattern in the X-ray emission, switching between high, low and flaring modes on timescales of tens of seconds. A radio counterpart was detected at a significance of 7.9σ with an average flux density of ≃33 μJy at 1.28 GHz. It showed variability over the course of hours and emitted a ≃10-min long flare just a few minutes after a brief sequence of multiple X-ray flares. No clear evidence for a significant correlated or anticorrelated variability pattern was found between the X-ray and radio emissions over timescales of tens of minutes and longer. CXOU J110926.4–650224 was undetected at higher radio frequencies in subsequent observations performed with the Australia Telescope Compact Array, when the source was still in the same X-ray sub-luminous state observed before, down to a flux density upper limit of 15 μJy at 7.25 GHz (at 3σ). We compare the radio emission properties of CXOU J110926.4–650224 with those observed in known and candidate tMSPs and discuss physical scenarios that may account for its persistent and flaring radio emissions.