THE MORPHOLOGY OF FLARE PHENOMENA, MAGNETIC-FIELDS, AND ELECTRIC CURRENTS IN ACTIVE REGIONS .3. NOAA ACTIVE REGION 6233 (1990 AUGUST)

We investigate the spatial relationship between vertical electric curr ents and flare phenomena in NOAA Active Region 6233, which was observe d 1990 August 28-31 at Mees Solar Observatory. The two flares studied are the 1N/M1.8 flare on August 28, 22:30 UT and the 1N/M1.6 flare on August 29, 20:35 UT. Using Stokes polarimetry we make magnetograms of the region and compute the vertical current density. Using Halpha imag ing spectroscopy we identify sites of intense nonthermal electron prec ipitation or of high coronal pressure. The precipitation in these flar es is barely strong enough to be detectable. We find that both precipi tation and high pressure tend to occur near vertical currents, but tha t neither phenomenon is cospatial with current maxima. In contrast wit h the conclusion of other authors, we argue that these observations do not support a current-interruption model for flares, unless the relev ant currents are primarily horizontal. The magnetic morphology and tem poral evolution of these flares suggest that an erupting filament mode l may be relevant, but this model does not explicitly predict the rela tionship between precipitation, high pressure, and vertical currents.