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Elemental Abundances in the Solar Corona as Measured by the X-ray Solar Monitor Onboard Chandrayaan-1

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Abstract

The X-ray Solar Monitor (XSM) on the Indian lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 was flown to complement lunar elemental abundance studies by the X-ray fluorescence experiment C1XS. XSM measured the ≈ 1.8 – 20 keV solar X-ray spectrum during its nine months of operation in lunar orbit. The soft X-ray spectra can be used to estimate absolute coronal abundances using intensities of emission-line complexes and the plasma temperature derived from the continuum. The best estimates are obtained from the brightest flare observed by XSM: a C2.8-class flare. The well-known first-ionization potential (FIP) effect is observed; abundances are enhanced for the low-FIP elements Fe, Ca, and Si, while the intermediate-FIP element S shows values close to the photospheric abundance. The derived coronal abundances show a quasi-mass-dependent pattern of fractionation.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Sterling at NASA/MSFC for useful discussions and Kim Tolbert at NASA/GSFC for help with the OSPEX analysis. We also thank the anonymous referee for carefully revising the manuscript and providing useful suggestions that have greatly improved the article.

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Correspondence to S. Narendranath.

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Narendranath, S., Sreekumar, P., Alha, L. et al. Elemental Abundances in the Solar Corona as Measured by the X-ray Solar Monitor Onboard Chandrayaan-1 . Sol Phys 289, 1585–1595 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-013-0410-9

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