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Register a new userPhysical Conditions of Coronal Plasma at the transit of a Shock driven by a Coronal Mass Ejection
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Added by
Alessandro Bemporad
Publication date
2015
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
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We report here on the determination of plasma physical parameters across a shock driven by a Coronal Mass Ejection using White Light (WL) coronagraphic images and Radio Dynamic Spectra (RDS). The event analyzed here is the spectacular eruption that occurred on June 7th 2011, a fast CME followed by the ejection of columns of chromospheric plasma, part of them falling back to the solar surface, associated with a M2.5 flare and a type-II radio burst. Images acquired by the SOHO/LASCO coronagraphs (C2 and C3) were employed to track the CME-driven shock in the corona between 2-12 R$_odot$ in an angular interval of about 110$^circ$. In these intervals we derived 2-Dimensional (2D) maps of electron density, shock velocity and shock compression ratio, and we measured the shock inclination angle with respect to the radial direction. Under plausible assumptions, these quantities were used to infer 2D maps of shock Mach number $M_text{A}$ and strength of coronal magnetic fields at the shocks heights. We found that in the early phases (2-4 R$_odot$) the whole shock surface is super-Alfvenic, while later on (i.e. higher up) it becomes super-Alfvenic only at the nose. This is in agreement with the location for the source of the observed type-II burst, as inferred from RDS combined with the shock kinematic and coronal densities derived from WL. For the first time, a coronal shock is used to derive a 2D map of the coronal magnetic field strength over a 10 R$_odot$ altitude and $sim 110^circ$ latitude intervals.
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In this work UV and white light (WL) coronagraphic data are combined to derive the full set of plasma physical parameters along the front of a shock driven by a Coronal Mass Ejection. Pre-shock plasma density, shock compression ratio, speed and inclination angle are estimated from WL data, while pre-shock plasma temperature and outflow velocity are derived from UV data. The Rankine-Hugoniot (RH) equations for the general case of an oblique shock are then applied at three points along the front located between $2.2-2.6$ R$_odot$ at the shock nose and at the two flanks. Stronger field deflection (by $sim 46^circ$), plasma compression (factor $sim 2.7$) and heating (factor $sim 12$) occur at the nose, while heating at the flanks is more moderate (factor $1.5-3.0$). Starting from a pre-shock corona where protons and electrons have about the same temperature ($T_p sim T_e sim 1.5 cdot 10^6$ K), temperature increases derived with RH equations could better represent the protons heating (by dissipation across the shock), while the temperature increase implied by adiabatic compression (factor $sim 2$ at the nose, $sim 1.2-1.5$ at the flanks) could be more representative of electrons heating: the transit of the shock causes a decoupling between electron and proton temperatures. Derived magnetic field vector rotations imply a draping of field lines around the expanding flux rope. The shock turns out to be super-critical (sub-critical) at the nose (at the flanks), where derived post-shock plasma parameters can be very well approximated with those derived by assuming a parallel (perpendicular) shock.
We perform a time-dependent ionization analysis to constrain plasma heating requirements during a fast partial halo coronal mass ejection (CME) observed on 2000 June 28 by the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). We use two methods to derive densities from the UVCS measurements, including a density sensitive O V line ratio at 1213.85 and 1218.35 Angstroms, and radiative pumping of the O VI 1032,1038 doublet by chromospheric emission lines. The most strongly constrained feature shows cumulative plasma heating comparable to or greater than the kinetic energy, while features observed earlier during the event show cumulative plasma heating of order or less than the kinetic energy. SOHO Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) observations are used to estimate the active region magnetic energy. We consider candidate plasma heating mechanisms and provide constraints when possible. Because this CME was associated with a relatively weak flare, the contribution by flare energy (e.g., through thermal conduction or energetic particles) is probably small; however, the flare may have been partially behind the limb. Wave heating by photospheric motions requires heating rates significantly larger than those previously inferred for coronal holes, but the eruption itself could drive waves which heat the plasma. Heating by small-scale reconnection in the flux rope or by the CME current sheet is not significantly constrained. UVCS line widths suggest that turbulence must be replenished continually and dissipated on time scales shorter than the propagation time in order to be an intermediate step in CME heating.
The Sun is an active star that can launch large eruptions of magnetised plasma into the heliosphere, called coronal mass ejections (CMEs). These ejections can drive shocks that accelerate particles to high energies, often resulting in radio emission at low frequencies (<200 MHz). To date, the relationship between the expansion of CMEs, shocks and particle acceleration is not well understood, partly due to the lack of radio imaging at low frequencies during the onset of shock-producing CMEs. Here, we report multi-instrument radio, white-light and ultraviolet imaging of the second largest flare in Solar Cycle 24 (2008-present) and its associated fast CME (3038+/-288 km/s). We identify the location of a multitude of radio shock signatures, called herringbones, and find evidence for shock accelerated electron beams at multiple locations along the expanding CME. These observations support theories of non-uniform, rippled shock fronts driven by an expanding CME in the solar corona.
Coronal mass ejections (CMEs), often associated with flares, are the most powerful magnetic phenomena occurring on the Sun. Stars show magnetic activity levels up to 10^4 times higher, and CME effects on stellar physics and circumstellar environments are predicted to be significant. However, stellar CMEs remain observationally unexplored. Using time-resolved high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy of a stellar flare on the active star HR 9024 observed with Chandra/HETGS, we distinctly detected Doppler shifts in S XVI, Si XIV, and Mg XII lines that indicate upward and downward motions of hot plasmas (~10-25 MK) within the flaring loop, with velocity v~100-400 km/s, in agreement with a model of flaring magnetic tube. Most notably, we also detected a later blueshift in the O VIII line which reveals an upward motion, with v=90+/-30 km/s, of cool plasma (~4 MK), that we ascribe to a CME coupled to the flare. From this evidence we were able to derive a CME mass of 1x10^21 g and a CME kinetic energy of 5x10^34 erg. These values provide clues in the extrapolation of the solar case to higher activity levels, suggesting that CMEs could indeed be a major cause of mass and angular momentum loss.
Interest in stealth coronal mass ejections (CMEs) is increasing due to their relatively high occurrence rate and space weather impact. However, typical CME signatures such as extreme-ultraviolet dimmings and post-eruptive arcades are hard to identify and require extensive image processing techniques. These weak observational signatures mean that little is currently understood about the physics of these events. We present an extensive study of the magnetic field configuration in which the stealth CME of 3 March 2011 occurred. Three distinct episodes of flare ribbon formation are observed in the stealth CME source active region (AR). Two occurred prior to the eruption and suggest the occurrence of magnetic reconnection that builds the structure which will become eruptive. The third occurs in a time close to the eruption of a cavity that is observed in STEREO-B 171A data; this subsequently becomes part of the propagating CME observed in coronagraph data. We use both local (Cartesian) and global (spherical) models of the coronal magnetic field, which are complemented and verified by the observational analysis. We find evidence of a coronal null point, with field lines computed from its neighbourhood connecting the stealth CME source region to two ARs in the northern hemisphere. We conclude that reconnection at the null point aids the eruption of the stealth CME by removing field that acted to stabilise the pre-eruptive structure. This stealth CME, despite its weak signatures, has the main characteristics of other CMEs, and its eruption is driven by similar mechanisms.
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