We investigate multi-spacecraft observations of the 17 January 2010 solar energetic particle event. Energetic electrons and protons have been observed over a remarkable large longitudinal range at ...the two STEREO spacecraft and SOHO, suggesting a longitudinal spread of nearly 360 degrees at 1 AU. The flaring active region, which was on the backside of the Sun as seen from Earth, was separated by more than 100 degrees in longitude from the magnetic footpoints of each of the three spacecraft. The event is characterized by strongly delayed energetic particle onsets with respect to the flare and only small or no anisotropies in the intensity measurements at all three locations. The presence of a coronal shock is evidenced by the observation of a type II radio burst from the Earth and STEREO-B. In order to describe the observations in terms of particle transport in the interplanetary medium, including perpendicular diffusion, a 1D model describing the propagation along a magnetic field line (model 1) (Dröge,
Astrophys. J
.
589
, 1027 – 1039,
2003
) and the 3D propagation model (model 2) by Dröge
et al
. (
Astrophys. J
.
709
, 912 – 919,
2010
) including perpendicular diffusion in the interplanetary medium have been applied. While both models are capable of reproducing the observations, model 1 requires injection functions at the Sun of several hours. Model 2, which includes lateral transport in the solar wind, reveals high values for the ratio of perpendicular to parallel diffusion. Because we do not find evidence for unusual long injection functions at the Sun, we favor a scenario with strong perpendicular transport in the interplanetary medium as an explanation for the observations.
Late on 2011 November 3, STEREO-A, STEREO-B, MESSENGER, and near-Earth spacecraft observed an energetic particle flux enhancement. Based on the analysis of in situ plasma and particle observations, ...their correlation with remote sensing observations, and an interplanetary transport model, we conclude that the particle increases observed at multiple locations had a common single-source active region and the energetic particles filled a very broad region around the Sun. The active region was located at the solar backside (as seen from Earth) and was the source of a large flare, a fast and wide coronal mass ejection, and an EIT wave, accompanied by type II and type III radio emission. In contrast to previous solar energetic particle events showing broad longitudinal spread, this event showed clear particle anisotropies at three widely separated observation points at 1 AU, suggesting direct particle injection close to the magnetic footpoint of each spacecraft, lasting for several hours. We discuss these observations and the possible scenarios explaining the extremely broad particle spread for this event.
We investigate the solar phenomena associated with the origin of the solar energetic particle (SEP) event observed on 2013 April 11 by a number of spacecraft distributed in the inner heliosphere over ...a broad range of heliolongitudes. We use extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and white-light coronagraph observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), the SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory, and the twin Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory spacecraft (STEREO-A and STEREO-B) to determine the angular extent of the EUV wave and coronal mass ejection (CME) associated with the origin of the SEP event. We show that the west flank of the CME-driven shock propagating at high altitudes above the solar surface was most likely the source of the particles observed near Earth, but it did not leave any EUV trace on the solar disk.
ABSTRACT We investigate the solar phenomena associated with the origin of the solar energetic particle (SEP) event observed on 2014 February 25 by a number of spacecraft distributed in the inner ...heliosphere over a broad range of heliolongitudes. These include spacecraft located near Earth; the twin Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory spacecraft, STEREO-A and STEREO-B, located at ∼1 au from the Sun 153° west and 160° east of Earth, respectively; the MErcury Surface Space ENvironment GEochemistry and Ranging mission (at 0.40 au and 31° west of Earth); and the Juno spacecraft (at 2.11 au and 48° east of Earth). Although the footpoints of the field lines nominally connecting the Sun with STEREO-A, STEREO-B and near-Earth spacecraft were quite distant from each other, an intense high-energy SEP event with Fe-rich prompt components was observed at these three locations. The extent of the extreme-ultraviolet wave associated with the solar eruption generating the SEP event was very limited in longitude. However, the white-light shock accompanying the associated coronal mass ejection extended over a broad range of longitudes. As the shock propagated into interplanetary space it extended over at least ∼190° in longitude. The release of the SEPs observed at different longitudes occurred when the portion of the shock magnetically connected to each spacecraft was already at relatively high altitudes ( 2 R above the solar surface). The expansion of the shock in the extended corona, as opposite to near the solar surface, determined the SEP injection and SEP intensity-time profiles at different longitudes.
The solar modulation of galactic cosmic rays (GCR) can be studied in detail by examining long-term variations of the GCR energy spectrum (
e.g.
on the scales of a solar cycle). With almost 20 years ...of data, the
Electron Proton Helium INstrument
(EPHIN) onboard the
SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory
(SOHO) is well suited for this kind of investigation. Although the design of the instrument is optimised to measure proton and helium isotope spectra up to
50
MeV
nucleon
−
1
, the capability exists to determine proton energy spectra from 250 MeV up to above 1.6 GeV. Therefore we developed a sophisticated inversion method to calculate such proton spectra. The method relies on a GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation of the instrument and a simplified spacecraft model that calculates the energy-response function of EPHIN for electrons, protons, and heavier ions. For validation purposes, proton spectra based on this method are compared to various balloon missions and space instrumentation. As a result we present annual galactic cosmic-ray spectra from 1995 to 2014.
Simultaneous measurements of solar energetic particle (SEP) events by two or more of the spacecraft located near 1 AU during the rising phase of solar cycle 24 (i.e., STEREO-A, STEREO-B, and ...near-Earth spacecraft such as ACE, SOHO, and GOES) are used to determine the longitudinal dependence of 71-112 keV electron, 0.7-3 MeV electron, 15-40 MeV proton, and 25-53 MeV proton peak intensities measured in the prompt component of SEP events. Distributions of the peak intensities for the selected 35 events with identifiable solar origin are approximated by the form exp -(varphi - varphi sub(0)) super(2)/2sigma super(2), where varphi is the longitudinal separation between the parent active region and the footpoint of the nominal interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) line connecting each spacecraft with the Sun, varphi sub(0) is the distribution centroid, and sigma determines the longitudinal gradient. The MESSENGER spacecraft, at helioradii R < 1 AU, allows us to determine a lower limit to the radial dependence of the 71-112 keV electron peak intensities measured along IMF lines. We find five events for which the nominal magnetic footpoint of MESSENGER was less than 20degrees apart from the nominal footpoint of a spacecraft near 1 AU. Although the expected theoretical radial dependence for the peak intensity of the events observed along the same field line can be approximated by a functional form R super(-alpha) with alpha < 3, we find two events for which alpha > 3. These two cases correspond to SEP events occurring in a complex interplanetary medium that favored the enhancement of peak intensities near Mercury but hindered the SEP transport to 1 AU.
Context. The main sources of solar energetic particle (SEP) events are solar flares and shocks driven by coronal mass ejections (CMEs). While it is generally accepted that energetic protons can be ...accelerated by shocks, whether or not these shocks can also efficiently accelerate solar energetic electrons is still debated. In this study we present observations of the extremely widespread SEP event of 26 Dec 2013 To the knowledge of the authors, this is the widest longitudinal SEP distribution ever observed together with unusually long-lasting energetic electron anisotropies at all observer positions. Further striking features of the event are long-lasting SEP intensity increases, two distinct SEP components with the second component mainly consisting of high-energy particles, a complex associated coronal activity including a pronounced signature of a shock in radio type-II observations, and the interaction of two CMEs early in the event. Aims. The observations require a prolonged injection scenario not only for protons but also for electrons. We therefore analyze the data comprehensively to characterize the possible role of the shock for the electron event. Methods. Remote-sensing observations of the complex solar activity are combined with in situ measurements of the particle event. We also apply a graduated cylindrical shell (GCS) model to the coronagraph observations of the two associated CMEs to analyze their interaction. Results. We find that the shock alone is likely not responsible for this extremely wide SEP event. Therefore we propose a scenario of trapped energetic particles inside the CME–CME interaction region which undergo further acceleration due to the shock propagating through this region, stochastic acceleration, or ongoing reconnection processes inside the interaction region. The origin of the second component of the SEP event is likely caused by a sudden opening of the particle trap.
Analyzing the sequence of solar energetic electron events measured at both STEREO-A (STA) and STEREO-B (STB) spacecraft during 17–21 July 2014, when their orbital separation was 34°, we found ...evidence of a strong non-radial electron propagation in the solar corona below the solar wind source surface. The impulsive electron events were associated with recurrent flare and jet (hereafter flare/jet) activity at the border of an isolated coronal hole situated close to the solar equator. We have focused our study on the solar energetic particle (SEP) event on 17 July 2014, during which both spacecraft detected a similar impulsive and anisotropic energetic electron event suggesting optimal connection of both spacecraft to the parent particle source, despite the large angular separation between the parent flare and the nominal magnetic footpoints on the source surface of STA and STB of 68° and 90°, respectively. Combining the remote-sensing extreme ultraviolet (EUV) observations, in-situ plasma, magnetic field, and energetic particle data we investigated and discuss here the origin and the propagation trajectory of energetic electrons in the solar corona. We find that the energetic electrons in the energy range of 55–195 keV together with the associated EUV jet were injected from the flare site toward the spacecraft’s magnetic footpoints and propagate along a strongly non-radial and inclined magnetic field below the source surface. From stereoscopic (EUV) observations we estimated the inclination angle of the jet trajectory and the respective magnetic field of 63° ± 11° relative to the radial direction. We show how the flare accelerated electrons reach very distant longitudes in the heliosphere, when the spacecraft are nominally not connected to the particle source. This example illustrates how ballistic backmapping can occasionally fail to characterize the magnetic connectivity during SEP events. This finding also provides an additional mechanism (one among others), which may explain the origin of widespread SEP events.
Abstract
An intense solar energetic particle (SEP) event was observed on 2021 October 9 by multiple spacecraft distributed near the ecliptic plane at heliocentric radial distances
R
≲ 1 au and within ...a narrow range of heliolongitudes. A stream interaction region (SIR), sequentially observed by Parker Solar Probe (PSP) at
R
= 0.76 au and 48° east from Earth (
ϕ
= E48°), STEREO-A (at
R
= 0.96 au,
ϕ
= E39°), Solar Orbiter (SolO; at
R
= 0.68 au,
ϕ
= E15°), BepiColombo (at
R
= 0.33 au,
ϕ
= W02°), and near-Earth spacecraft, regulated the observed intensity-time profiles and the anisotropic character of the SEP event. PSP, STEREO-A, and SolO detected strong anisotropies at the onset of the SEP event, which resulted from the fact that PSP and STEREO-A were in the declining-speed region of the solar wind stream responsible for the SIR and from the passage of a steady magnetic field structure by SolO during the onset of the event. By contrast, the intensity-time profiles observed near Earth displayed a delayed onset at proton energies ≳13 MeV and an accumulation of ≲5 MeV protons between the SIR and the shock driven by the parent coronal mass ejection (CME). Even though BepiColombo, STEREO-A, and SolO were nominally connected to the same region of the Sun, the intensity-time profiles at BepiColombo resemble those observed near Earth, with the bulk of low-energy ions also confined between the SIR and the CME-driven shock. This event exemplifies the impact that intervening large-scale interplanetary structures, such as corotating SIRs, have in shaping the properties of SEP events.
The giant, superfast, interplanetary coronal mass ejection, detected by STEREO A on 2012 July 23, well away from Earth, appears to have reached 1 AU with an unusual set of leading bow waves ...resembling in some ways a subsonic interaction, possibly due to the high pressures present in the very energetic particles produced in this event. Eventually, a front of record high-speed flow reached STEREO. The unusual behavior of this event is illustrated using the magnetic field, plasma, and energetic ion observations obtained by STEREO. Had the Earth been at the location of STEREO, the large southward-oriented magnetic field component in the event, combined with its high speed, would have produced a record storm.
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