ABSTRACT We study the link between an expanding coronal shock and the energetic particles measured near Earth during the ground level enhancement of 2012 May 17. We developed a new technique based on ...multipoint imaging to triangulate the three-dimensional (3D) expansion of the shock forming in the corona. It uses images from three vantage points by mapping the outermost extent of the coronal region perturbed by the pressure front. We derive for the first time the 3D velocity vector and the distribution of Mach numbers, MFM, of the entire front as a function of time. Our approach uses magnetic field reconstructions of the coronal field, full magnetohydrodynamic simulations and imaging inversion techniques. We find that the highest MFM values appear near the coronal neutral line within a few minutes of the coronal mass ejection onset; this neutral line is usually associated with the source of the heliospheric current and plasma sheet. We illustrate the variability of the shock speed, shock geometry, and Mach number along different modeled magnetic field lines. Despite the level of uncertainty in deriving the shock Mach numbers, all employed reconstruction techniques show that the release time of GeV particles occurs when the coronal shock becomes super-critical (MFM > 3). Combining in situ measurements with heliospheric imagery, we also demonstrate that magnetic connectivity between the accelerator (the coronal shock of 2012 May 17) and the near-Earth environment is established via a magnetic cloud that erupted from the same active region roughly five days earlier.
Several recent studies suggest that magnetic reconnection is able to erode substantial amounts of the outer magnetic flux of interplanetary magnetic clouds (MCs) as they propagate in the heliosphere. ...We quantify and provide a broader context to this process, starting from 263 tabulated interplanetary coronal mass ejections, including MCs, observed over a time period covering 17 years and at a distance of 1 AU from the Sun with Wind (1995–2008) and the two STEREO (2009–2012) spacecraft. Based on several quality factors, including careful determination of the MC boundaries and main magnetic flux rope axes, an analysis of the azimuthal flux imbalance expected from erosion by magnetic reconnection was performed on a subset of 50 MCs. The results suggest that MCs may be eroded at the front or at rear and in similar proportions, with a significant average erosion of about 40% of the total azimuthal magnetic flux. We also searched for in situ signatures of magnetic reconnection causing erosion at the front and rear boundaries of these MCs. Nearly ~30% of the selected MC boundaries show reconnection signatures. Given that observations were acquired only at 1 AU and that MCs are large‐scale structures, this finding is also consistent with the idea that erosion is a common process. Finally, we studied potential correlations between the amount of eroded azimuthal magnetic flux and various parameters such as local magnetic shear, Alfvén speed, and leading and trailing ambient solar wind speeds. However, no significant correlations were found, suggesting that the locally observed parameters at 1 AU are not likely to be representative of the conditions that prevailed during the erosion which occurred during propagation from the Sun to 1 AU. Future heliospheric missions, and in particular Solar Orbiter or Solar Probe Plus, will be fully geared to answer such questions.
Key Points
MCs are frequently eroded at the front or at the rear in similar proportion
Nearly 30% of selected MC boundaries show reconnection signatures
The amount of eroded MCs and solar wind parameters do not seem to be correlated
Context. The observation of >100 MeV γ-rays in the minutes to hours following solar flares suggests that high-energy particles interacting in the solar atmosphere can be stored and/or accelerated for ...long time periods. The occasions when γ-rays are detected even when the solar eruptions occurred beyond the solar limb as viewed from Earth provide favorable viewing conditions for studying the role of coronal shocks driven by coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in the acceleration of these particles. Aims. In this paper, we investigate the spatial and temporal evolution of the coronal shocks inferred from stereoscopic observations of behind-the-limb flares to determine if they could be the source of the particles producing the γ-rays. Methods. We analyzed the CMEs and early formation of coronal shocks associated with γ-ray events measured by the Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) from three eruptions behind the solar limb as viewed from Earth on 2013 Oct. 11, 2014 Jan. 06 and Sep. 01. We used a 3D triangulation technique, based on remote-sensing observations to model the expansion of the CME shocks from above the solar surface to the upper corona. Coupling the expansion model to various models of the coronal magnetic field allowed us to derive the time-dependent distribution of shock Mach numbers and the magnetic connection of particles produced by the shock to the solar surface visible from Earth. Results. The reconstructed shock fronts for the three events became magnetically connected to the visible solar surface after the start of the flare and just before the onset of the >100 MeV γ-ray emission. The shock surface at these connections also exhibited supercritical Mach numbers required for significant particle energization. The strongest γ-ray emissions occurred when the flanks of the shocks were connected in a quasi-perpendicular geometry to the field lines reaching the visible surface. Multipoint, in situ, measurements of solar energetic particles (SEPs) were consistent with the production of these SEPs by the same shock processes responsible for the γ-rays. The fluxes of protons in space and at the Sun were highest for the 2014 Sep. 01, which had the fastest moving shock. Conclusions. This study provides further evidence that high-energy protons producing time-extended high-energy γ-ray emission likely have the same CME-shock origin as solar energetic particles measured in interplanetary space.
This paper provides a short review of some of the basic concepts related to the observations of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in white light images and at large distances from the Sun. We review the ...various ideas which have been put forward to explain the dramatic changes in CME appearance in white light images from the Sun to 1
AU, focusing on results obtained by comparing white light observations of CMEs to the in situ measurements of Interplanetary CMEs (or ICMEs). We start with a list of definitions for the various in situ structures that form an ICME. A few representative examples of the formation of sheath regions and other interaction regions as well as the expansion of magnetic flux ropes are used to illustrate the basic phenomena which induce significant brightness variations during a CME's propagation to 1
AU and beyond. The white light signatures of a number of CMEs observed by the coronagraphs have been successfully simulated numerically by assuming that most of the coronal plasma observed in white light images is located on the surface of a croissant-shaped structure reminiscent of a magnetic flux rope. At large distances from the Sun, white light imagers show that the appearance of CMEs changes dramatically due to the changing position of the CME relative to the Thomson sphere, the expansion of the ejecta and the interaction of the ejecta with the ambient solar wind.
► Review of white light observations made by STEREO. ► Direct links between white light observations of CMEs and in situ measurements of magnetic flux ropes near 1 AU. ► Discussion of the various types of ejecta observed simultaneously in white light an in situ.
During propagation, Magnetic Clouds (MC) interact with their environment and, in particular, may reconnect with the solar wind around it, eroding away part of its initial magnetic flux. Here we ...quantitatively analyze such an interaction using combined, multipoint observations of the same MC flux rope by STEREO A, B, ACE, WIND and THEMIS on November 19–20, 2007. Observation of azimuthal magnetic flux imbalance inside a MC flux rope has been argued to stem from erosion due to magnetic reconnection at its front boundary. The present study adds to such analysis a large set of signatures expected from this erosion process. (1) Comparison of azimuthal flux imbalance for the same MC at widely separated points precludes the crossing of the MC leg as a source of bias in flux imbalance estimates. (2) The use of different methods, associated errors and parametric analyses show that only an unexpectedly large error in MC axis orientation could explain the azimuthal flux imbalance. (3) Reconnection signatures are observed at the MC front at all spacecraft, consistent with an ongoing erosion process. (4) Signatures in suprathermal electrons suggest that the trailing part of the MC has a different large‐scale magnetic topology, as expected. The azimuthal magnetic flux erosion estimated at ACE and STEREO A corresponds respectively to 44% and 49% of the inferred initial azimuthal magnetic flux before MC erosion upon propagation. The corresponding average reconnection rate during transit is estimated to be in the range 0.12–0.22 mV/m, suggesting most of the erosion occurs in the inner parts of the heliosphere. Future studies ought to quantify the influence of such an erosion process on geo‐effectiveness.
Key Points
Demonstrate the occurrence of magnetic cloud erosion during propagation
Investigate all expected signatures of this mechanism
Highlight the implications in terms of impact in the Heliosphere and at Earth
Context. The solar wind speed at 1 AU shows cyclic variations in latitude and in time which reflect the evolution of the global background magnetic field during the activity cycle. It is commonly ...accepted that the terminal (asymptotic) wind speed in a given magnetic flux-tube is generally anti-correlated with its total expansion ratio, which motivated the definition of widely used semi-empirical scaling laws relating one to the other. In practice, such scaling laws require ad hoc corrections (especially for the slow wind in the vicinities of streamer/coronal hole boundaries) and empirical fits to in situ spacecraft data. A predictive law based solely on physical principles is still missing. Aims. We test whether the flux-tube expansion is the controlling factor of the wind speed at all phases of the cycle and at all latitudes (close to and far from streamer boundaries) using a very large sample of wind-carrying open magnetic flux-tubes. We furthermore search for additional physical parameters based on the geometry of the coronal magnetic field which have an influence on the terminal wind flow speed. Methods. We use numerical magneto-hydrodynamical simulations of the corona and wind coupled to a dynamo model to determine the properties of the coronal magnetic field and of the wind velocity (as a function of time and latitude) during a whole 11-yr activity cycle. These simulations provide a large statistical ensemble of open flux-tubes which we analyse conjointly in order to identify relations of dependence between the wind speed and geometrical parameters of the flux-tubes which are valid globally (for all latitudes and moments of the cycle). Results. Our study confirms that the terminal (asymptotic) speed of the solar wind depends very strongly on the geometry of the open magnetic flux-tubes through which it flows. The total flux-tube expansion is more clearly anti-correlated with the wind speed for fast rather than for slow wind flows, and effectively controls the locations of these flows during solar minima. Overall, the actual asymptotic wind speeds attained – especially those of the slow wind – are also strongly dependent on field-line inclination and magnetic field amplitude at the foot-points. We suggest ways of including these parameters in future predictive scaling laws for the solar wind speed.
Plasma parcels are observed propagating from the Sun out to the large coronal heights monitored by the Heliospheric Imagers (HI) instruments onboard the NASA STEREO spacecraft during September 2007. ...The source region of these out‐flowing parcels is found to corotate with the Sun and to be rooted near the western boundary of an equatorial coronal hole. These plasma enhancements evolve during their propagation through the HI cameras' fields of view and only becoming fully developed in the outer camera field of view. We provide evidence that HI is observing the formation of a Corotating Interaction Region (CIR) where fast solar wind from the equatorial coronal hole is interacting with the slow solar wind of the streamer belt located on the western edge of that coronal hole. A dense plasma parcel is also observed near the footpoint of the observed CIR at a distance less than 0.1AU from the Sun where fast wind would have not had time to catch up slow wind. We suggest that this low‐lying plasma enhancement is a plasma parcel which has been disconnected from a helmet streamer and subsequently becomes embedded inside the corotating interaction region.
We use combined high-cadence, high-resolution, and multi-point imaging by the Solar-Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory to investigate the hour-long ...eruption of a fast and wide coronal mass ejection (CME) on 2011 March 21 when the twin STEREO spacecraft were located beyond the solar limbs. We analyze the relation between the eruption of the CME, the evolution of an Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) wave, and the onset of a solar energetic particle (SEP) event measured in situ by the STEREO and near-Earth orbiting spacecraft. Combined ultraviolet and white-light images of the lower corona reveal that in an initial CME lateral "expansion phase," the EUV disturbance tracks the laterally expanding flanks of the CME, both moving parallel to the solar surface with speeds of ~450 km s super(-1). When the lateral expansion of the ejecta ceases, the EUV disturbance carries on propagating parallel to the solar surface but devolves rapidly into a less coherent structure. Multi-point tracking of the CME leading edge and the effects of the launched compression waves (e.g., pushed streamers) give anti-sunward speeds that initially exceed 900 km s super(-1) at all measured position angles. We combine our analysis of ultraviolet and white-light images with a comprehensive study of the velocity dispersion of energetic particles measured in situ by particle detectors located at STEREO-A (STA) and first Lagrange point (L1), to demonstrate that the delayed solar particle release times at STA and L1 are consistent with the time required (30-40 minutes) for the CME to perturb the corona over a wide range of longitudes. This study finds an association between the longitudinal extent of the perturbed corona (in EUV and white light) and the longitudinal extent of the SEP event in the heliosphere.
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