A Parametric Survey of the CME Triggering Process by Numerical Simulations

Observations indicate that solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are closely associated with reconnection-favored flux emergence, which was explained in the emerging flux trigger mechanism for CMEs by Chen & Shibata based on numerical simulations. We present a parametric survey of the triggering agent: its polarity orientation, position, and the amount of the unsigned flux. The results suggest that whether a CME can be triggered depends on both the amount and location of the emerging flux, in addition to its polarity orientation. A diagram is presented to show the eruption and non-eruption regimes in the parameter space. The work is aimed at providing useful information for the space weather forecast.     

Speed Distributions of CMEs in Cycle 23 at Low and High Latitudes

We analyzed the speed (v) distributions of 11584 coronal mass ejections (CMEs) observed by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph Experiment on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO/LASCO) in cycle 23 from 1996 to 2006. We find that the speed distributions for high-latitude (HL) and low-latitude (LL) CME events are nearly identical and to a good approximation they can be fitted with a lognormal distribution. This finding implies that statistically the same driving mechanism of a nonlinear nature is acting in both HL and LL CME events, and CMEs are intrinsically associated with the source's magnetic structure on large spatial scales. Statistically, the HL CMEs are slightly slower than the LL CMEs. For HL and LL CME events respectively, the speed distributions for accelerating and decelerating events are nearly identical and also to a good approximation they can be both fitted with a lognormal distribution, thus supplementing the results obtained by Yurchyshyn et al.     

Relationship between CME dynamics and solar flare plasma

The relationship between the velocity of CMEs and the plasma temperature of the associated X-ray solar flares is investigated.The velocity of CMEs increases with plasma temperature(R=0.82)and photon index below the break energy(R=0.60)of X-ray flares.The heating of the coronal plasma appears to be significant with respect to the kinetics of a CME from the reconnection region where the flare also occurs.We propose that the initiation and velocity of CMEs perhaps depend upon the dominant process of conversion of the magnetic field energy of the active region to heating/accelerating the coronal plasma in the reconnected loops.Results show that a flare and the associated CME are two components of one energy release system,perhaps,magnetic field free energy.     

Evolution of morphological features of CMEs deduced from catastrophe model of solar eruptions

We describe the evolution of morphological features of the magnetic configuration of CME according to the catastrophe model developed previously. For the parameters chosen for the present work, roughly half of the total mass is nominally contained in the initial flux rope, while the remaining plasma is brought by magnetic reconnection from the corona into the current sheet and from there into the CME bubble. The physical attributes of the difference in the observable features between CME bubble and flare loop system were studied. We tentatively identified distinguishable evolutionary features like the outer shell, the expanding bubble and the flux rope with the leading edge, void and core of the 3-component CME structure. The role of magnetic reconnection is discussed as a possible mechanism for the heating of the prominence material during eruptions. Several aspects of this explanation that need improvement are outlined.     

Magnetic interactions during sympathetic solar eruptions

We present the first evidence for occurrences of magnetic interactions between a jet, a filament and coronal loops during a complex event, in which two flares sequen-tially occurred at different positions of the same active region and were closely associated with two successive coronal mass ejections (CMEs), respectively. The coronal loops were located outside but nearby the filament channel before the flares. The jet, originating from the first flare during its rise phase, not only hit the filament body but also met one of the ends of the loops. The filament then underwent an inclined eruption followed by the second flare and met the same loop end once more. Both the jet and the filament erup- tion were accompanied by the development of loop disturbances and the appearances of brightenings around the meeting site. In particular, the erupting filament showed clear manifestations of interactions with the loops. After a short holdup, only its portion passed through this site, while the other portion remained at the same place. Following the fila-ment eruption and the loop disappearance, four dimmings were formed and located near their four ends. This is a situation that we define as "quadrupolar dimmings." It appears that the two flares consisted of a sympathetic pair physically linked by the interaction between the jet and the filament, and their sympathy indicated that of the two CMEs.Moreover, it is very likely that the two sympathetic CMEs were simultaneously associ-ated with the disappearing loops and the quadrupole dimmings.     

Why are halo coronal mass ejections faster?

Halo coronal mass ejections (CMEs) have been to be significantly faster than normal CMEs, which is a long-standing puzzle. In order to solve the puzzle, we first investigate the observed properties of 31 limb CMEs that clearly display loopshaped frontal loops. The observational results show a strong tendency that slower CMEs are weaker in white-light intensity. Then, we perform a Monte Carlo simulation of 20000 artificial limb CMEs that have an average velocity of ～523km s -1. The Thomson scattering of thes...     

Formation of the CME Leading Edge Observed in the 2003 February 18 Event

This work investigates a typical coronal mass ejection (CME) observed on 2003 February 18, by various space and ground instruments, in white light, Ha, EUV and X-ray. The Ha and EUV images indicate that the CME started with the eruption of a long filament located near the solar northwest limb. The white light coronal images show that the CME initiated with the rarefaction of a region above the solar limb and followed by the formation of a bright arcade at the boundary of the rarefying region at height 0.46 R(?) above the solar surface. The rarefying process synchronized with the slow rising phase of the eruptive filament, and the CME leading edge was observed to form as the latter started to accelerate. The lower part of the filament brightened in Ha as the filament rose to a certain height and parts of the filament was visible in the GOES X-ray images during the rise. These brightenings imply that the filament may be heated by the magnetic reconnection below the filament in the early stage of the eruption. We suggest that a possible mechanism which leads to the formation of the CME leading edge and cavity is the magnetic reconnection which takes place below the filament after the filament has reached a certain height.     

Relationship between CME velocities and X-ray fluxes of associated flares

Coronal mass ejection (CME) velocities have been studied over recent decades. We present a statistical analysis of the relationship between CME velocities and X-ray fluxes of the associated flares. We study two types of CMEs. One is the FL type associ- ated only with flares, while the other is the intermediate type associated with both filament eruptions and flares. It is found that the velocities of the FL type CMEs are strongly cor- related with both the peak and the time-integrated X-ray fluxes of the associated flares. However, the correlations between the intermediate type CME velocities and the corre- sponding two parameters are poor. It is also found that the correlation between the CME velocities and the peak X-ray fluxes is stronger than that between the CME velocities and the time-integrated X-ray fluxes of the associated flares.     

Formation of Transient Coronal Holes during the Eruption of a Quiescent Filament and its Overlying Sigmoid

By using Hα, He I 10830, EUV and soft X-ray (SXR) data, we examined a filament eruption that occurred on a quiet-sun region near the center of the solar disk on 2006 January 12, which disturbed a sigmoid overlying the filament channel observed by the GOES-12 SXR Imager (SXI), and led to the eruption of the sigmoid. The event was associated with a partial halo coronal mass ejection (CME) observed by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraphs (LASCO) on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), and resulted in the formation of two flare-like ribbons, post-eruption coronal loops, and two transient coronal holes (TCHs), but there were no significantly recorded GOES or Hα flares corresponding to the eruption. The two TCHs were dominated by opposite magnetic polarities and were located on the two ends of the eruptive sigmoid. They showed similar locations and shapes in He Ⅰ 10830, EUV and SXR observations. During the early eruption phase, brightenings first appeared on the locations of the two subsequent TCHs, which could be clearly identified on He Ⅰ 10830, EUV and SXR images. This eruption could be explained by the magnetic flux rope model, and the two TCHs were likely to be the feet of the flux rope.     

Transequatorial Filament Eruption and Its Link to a Coronal Mass Ejection

We revisit the Bastille Day flare/CME Event of 2000 July 14, and demonstrate that this flare/CME event is not related to only one single active region (AR). Activation and eruption of a huge transequatorial filament are seen to precede the simultaneous filament eruption and flare in the source active region, NOAA AR 9077, and the full halo-CME in the high corona. Evidence of reconfiguration of large-scale magnetic structures related to the event is illustrated by SOHO EIT and Yohkoh SXT observations, as well as, the reconstructed 3D magnetic lines of force based on the force-free assumption. We suggest that the AR filament in AR9077 was connected to the transequatorial filament. The large-scale magnetic composition related to the transequatorial filament and its sheared magnetic arcade appears to be an essential part of the CME parent magnetic structure. Estimations show that the filament-arcade system has enough magnetic helicity to account for the helicity carried by the related CMEs. In addition, rather global magnetic connectivity, covering almost all the visible range in longitude and a huge span in latitude on the Sun, is implied by the Nancay Radioheliograph (NRH) observations. The analysis of the Bastille Day event suggests that although the triggering of a global CME might take place in an AR, a much larger scale magnetic composition seems to be the source of the ejected magnetic flux, helicity and plasma. The Bastille Day event is the first described example in the literature, in which a transequatorial filament activity appears to play a key role in a global CME. Many tens of halo-CME are found to be associated with transequatorial filaments and their magnetic environment.     

The dynamics of velocity fluctuations in the solar wind – I. Coronal mass ejections

In this paper we present a simple, analytic model for the dynamical evolution of supersonic velocity fluctuations at the base of the ambient solar wind. These fluctuations result in the formation of dense working surfaces that travel down the wind. It is shown how the initial parameters of the fluctuations (velocity, density and duration) are related to the characteristics of the working surfaces far from the Sun (for instance at the Earth). We apply the model to the evolution of the coronal mass ejections in the IP medium, finding that the model is in good agreement with satellite observations of these phenomena, thus providing physical insight into their dynamical evolution. Our model may contribute to future 'space weather forecasting' on the Earth, based on detailed satellite monitoring of the solar corona.     

The Filament Eruption of 1999 March 21 and Its Associated Coronal Dimmings and CME

We report a filament eruption near the center of the solar disk on 1999 March 21, in multi-wavelength observations by the Yohkoh Soft X-Ray Telescope (SXT), the Extreme-ultraviolet Images Telescope (EIT) and the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). The eruption involved in the disappearance of an Ha filament can be clearly identified in EIT 195 A difference images. Two flare-like EUV ribbons and two obvious coronal dimming regions were formed. The two dimming regions had a similar appearance in lines formed in temperature range 6×104 K to several 106 K. They were located in regions of opposite magnetic polarities near the two ends of the eruptive filament. No significant X-ray or Ha flare was recorded associated with the eruption and no obvious photospheric magnetic activity was detected around the eruptive region, and particularly below the coronal dimming regions. The above surface activities were closely associated with a partial halo-type coronal mass ejection (CME) observed by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraphs (LASCO) on the SOHO. In terms of the magnetic flux rope model of CMEs, we explained these multiple observations as an integral process of large-scale rearrangement of coronal magnetic field initiated by the filament eruption, in which the dimming regions marked the evacuated feet of the flux rope.     

Relationship of Halo CMEs and Solar Proton Events

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are important sources of Solar Proton Events (SPEs). Their speeds and source region locations have significant effects on the occurrence of SPEs. In this paper, all the halo CMEs observed in recent five years are statistically analyzed. The results show that the fast halo CMEs with small angular distances are more likely to produce SPEs, especially, those halo CMEs with a speed greater than 1200 km s^?1 and an angular distance less than 60°. Three fast halo CMEs with no SPEs caused are elaborately studied. The results show that the ejection direction of the CME's main body and the variation of interplanetary magnetic field also have important impacts on the occurrence of SPEs. Consequently, in the practical daily space environment forecasts, an accurate forecast for SPEs must take various factors into account, such as the eruption speed, source region location, the main-body ejection direction of CMEs, and the interplanetary environment, etc.     

Kinetic properties of coronal mass ejections corrected for the projection effect in Cycle 23

Using Howard et al.'s method, we investigate, before and after the projection correction, the speed and acceleration distributions for 1747 coronal mass ejections (CMEs) associated solely with flares (FL CMEs) and 631 CMEs associated solely with filament eruptions (FE CMEs) observed by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph on board the Solar and Heliographic Observatory ( SOHO /LASCO) from 1996 September to 2007 September, corresponding to almost an entire solar cycle. The results show the following. (1) Before the correction, the speed distributions for FL and FE CMEs are statistically different from each other; after the correction, the speed distributions for FL and FE CMEs should also be statistically different from each other. (2) Before the correction, the acceleration distributions for FL and FE CMEs are statistically different from each other. However, after the correction, FL and FE CMEs should have quite similar acceleration distributions.     

On distribution of CMEs speed in solar cycle 23

We have analyzed the data for more than 12900 coronal mass ejections (CMEs) which were obtained by SOHO/LASCO during the period of 1996-2007. The online CME catalogue contains all major CMEs detected by LASCO C2 and C3 coronagraphs. Basically we determine the CME speeds from the linear and quadratic fits to the height-time measurements. It is found that linear (constant speed) fit is preferable for 90% of the CMEs. The distribution of speeds of CMEs in solar cycle 23 is presented along with those obtained by others. As expected, the speeds decrease in the decay phase of the cycle 23. There is an unusual drop in speed in the year 2001 and an abnormal increase in speed in the year 2003 due to the high concentration of CMEs, X-class soft X-ray flares, solar energetic particle (SEP) events and interplanetary shocks observed during October-November period called Halloween events.     

Distribution of CMEs with Different Angular Widths and Comparison with the Phase of Sunspot Number in the 23rd Solar Cycle

The variation of the number of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) with different angular widths in the period of 1996-2008 is analyzed statistically in this paper, together with a comparison of the feature of time variation between the number of CMEs with some typical angular widths and the number of sunspots.     

Coronal mass ejections of solar cycle 23

I summarize the statistical, physical, and morphological properties of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) of solar cycle 23, as observed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) mission. The SOHO data is by far the most extensive data, which made it possible to fully establish the properties of CMEs as a phenomenon of utmost importance to Sun-Earth connection as well as to the heliosphere. I also discuss various subsets of CMEs that are of primary importance for their impact on Earth.