{
  "abstract": "Observations of limb flares sometimes show a hot, dense plasma sheet surrounding the expected location of the reconnecting current sheet. Recently, bright linear features, called ridges, seen in overhead views of some disk flares in extreme-ultraviolet images, have been interpreted as the plasma sheet viewed from a different perspective. The overhead view permits the plasma sheet to be associated with a reconnection rate, measured using flare ribbon motion. More information about the plasma sheet might, however, be obtained through spectroscopic measurements of a ridge, but these have not yet been made. In this work we use spectroscopic observations made by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph of the 2014 March 29 flare (SOL2014-03-29T17:48) to determine the properties of its ridge. We find a very steady downflow at a speed consistent with the inferred rate of reconnection but little evidence for vigorous plasma turbulence at the base of the plasma sheet. These findings corroborate the basic understanding of flare ridges and motivate a revision to the picture of the hot, dense plasma surrounding the reconnecting current sheet.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Montana State University"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Dana Longcope"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Roy Smart",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9997-5515"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/b8qckypaynb8t.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3847/1538-4357/aea900",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "b8qckypaynb8t",
  "issns": [
    "0004-637X",
    "1538-4357"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aea900",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "3103|Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7222304639",
  "pdf_url": "https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aea900/pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-16",
  "publisher": "American Astronomical Society",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/b8qckypaynb8t.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:11Z",
      "native_id": "10.3847/1538-4357/aea900",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aea900"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "openalex:3103|Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics",
      "subfield": "stellar"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Using Spectra to Characterize the Hot, Dense Ridge in a Two-ribbon Flare",
  "title_text": "Using Spectra to Characterize the Hot, Dense Ridge in a Two-ribbon Flare",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:11Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/b8qckypaynb8t",
  "venue": "The Astrophysical Journal",
  "versions": []
}