The Solar Origin of the 6 January 1997 Coronal Mass Ejection

By using observations from the satellites of the International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) Observatories, the relationships among the coronal mass ejection (CME), the helmet streamer and the disappearing filament (DSF) have been studied. Our main conclusions are as follows: (1) The DSF disrupted the streamer, thus resulting in the restructuring of coronal field and causing the mass in the helmet streamer to form the CME. (2) The DSF under a helmet streamer and the sigmoid soft X-ray loop are possibly the precursors of the 6 January 1997 CME. (3) The energy stored in the filament circuit and the energy of the CME (include kinetic, potential and magnetic energies) are estimated and it is found that there was enough energy stored in the filament to provide the CME of 6 January 1997. (4) The CME's speed in response to the DSF is calculated. It is showed that the DSF can drive the CME to the observed speed.