Observation and Interpretation of Energetic Neutral Hydrogen Atoms from the December 5, 2006 Solar Flare

We discuss observations of energetic neutral hydrogen atoms (ENAs) from a solar flare/coronal mass ejection event reported by Mewaldt et al. (2009). The observations were made during the 5 December 2006 X9 solar flare, located at E79, by the Low Energy Telescopes (LETs) on STEREO A and B. Prior to the arrival of the main solar energetic particle (SEP) event at Earth, both LETs observed a sudden burst of 1.6 to 15 MeV particles arriving from the Sun. The derived solar emission profile, arrival directions, and energy spectrum all show that the <5 MeV particles were due to energetic neutral hydrogen atoms produced by either flare or shock-accelerated protons. RHESSI measurements of the 2.2-MeV -ray line provide an estimate of the number of interacting flare-accelerated protons in this event, which leads to an improved estimate of ENA production by flare-accelerated protons. CME-driven shock acceleration is also considered. Taking into account ENA losses, we conclude that the observed ENAs must have been produced in the high corona at heliocentric distances ≥2 solar radii.