The Flaring Sun: 2 Years of Solar Flare Observations with Solar Orbiter/STIX - SSW

Invited talk: The Flaring Sun: 2 Years of Solar Flare Observations with Solar Orbiter/STIX - Laura Hayes

Solar flares are intense bursts of radiation caused by the release of magnetic energy in the solar atmosphere, and they play a pivotal role in influencing space weather. As we are approaching the solar maximum, observations from Solar Orbiter's Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) are providing new insights into X-ray emissions from solar flare events. STIX has observed over 40,000 flares to date, since January 2021. In addition to new X-ray observations of solar flares that Solar Orbiter/STIX provides, the distinctive trajectory of Solar Orbiter, diverging from the Sun-Earth line, affords us the ability to detect flares from viewing angles markedly different from those accessible from Earth, affording us new possibilities to do stereoscopic science. In this presentation, I’ll present an introduction to X-ray flares, some new exciting results from STIX, and the importance of event lists and catalogs when doing coordinated science.