Inferred charge states of high energy solar particles from the solar isotope spectrometer on ACE

The large solar event on November 6, 1997, was enriched in heavy elements (Fe/O ∼ 1) with very hard energy spectra (power law index of −2). There was also a large enrichment in heavier isotopes, suggesting unusually strong charge to mass (Q/M) fractionation (∼(Q/M) −7 ). Assuming that the fractionation is dominated by Q/M and first ionization potential (FIP) related processes, we have inferred the charge states of twelve elements with energies of 12–60 MeV/nucleon. These results suggest a source temperature of 3–6 × 10 6 K, significantly higher than deduced at lower energies.