Electron Acceleration in the Corona

Abstract

The series of nine impulsive, highly collimated beams of near-relativistic electrons seen by ACE/EPAM on 26 and 27 June 2004 occurred at a quiet time with respect to solar flare and CME production. However, they were accompanied by decametric type III radio bursts observed by WIND/WAVES, which had progressively higher starting frequencies, suggestive of coronal acceleration. There were no CMEs seen by SOHO/LASCO in association with any of the type III bursts except possibly the first. The energy spectrum of the electrons was soft, typically E^−4.5 but extended up to at least ∼200 keV. We suggest that the source region for these events is in the high corona. We discuss this result in the context of solar electron acceleration at other times.