THE THOMSON SURFACE. III. TRACKING FEATURES IN 3D
Abstract
In this, the final installment in a three-part series on the Thomson surface, we present simulated observations of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) observed by a hypothetical polarizing white light heliospheric imager. Thomson scattering yields a polarization signal that can be exploited to locate observed features in three dimensions relative to the Thomson surface. We consider how the appearance of the CME changes with the direction of trajectory, using simulations of a simple geometrical shape and also of a more realistic CME generated using the ENLIL model. We compare the appearance in both unpolarized B and polarized pB light, and show that there is a quantifiable difference in the measured brightness of a CME between unpolarized and polarized observations. We demonstrate a technique for using this difference to extract the three-dimensional (3D) trajectory of large objects such as CMEs. We conclude with a discussion on how a polarizing heliospheric imager could be used to extract 3D trajectory information about CMEs or other observed features.
- Authors:
-
- Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut Street, Suite 300, Boulder, CO 80302 (United States)
- National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, NM 88349 (United States)
- Publication Date:
- OSTI Identifier:
- 22167625
- Resource Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal Name:
- Astrophysical Journal
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 765; Journal Issue: 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; ASTRONOMY; ASTROPHYSICS; BRIGHTNESS; COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS; COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION; DATA ANALYSIS; HELIOSPHERE; IMAGES; MASS; POLARIZATION; SOLAR CORONA; SUN; SURFACES; THOMSON SCATTERING; THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS; TRAJECTORIES; VISIBLE RADIATION
Citation Formats
Howard, T. A., DeForest, C. E., Tappin, S. J., and Odstrcil, D., E-mail: howard@boulder.swri.edu. THE THOMSON SURFACE. III. TRACKING FEATURES IN 3D. United States: N. p., 2013.
Web. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/765/1/45.
Howard, T. A., DeForest, C. E., Tappin, S. J., & Odstrcil, D., E-mail: howard@boulder.swri.edu. THE THOMSON SURFACE. III. TRACKING FEATURES IN 3D. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/765/1/45
Howard, T. A., DeForest, C. E., Tappin, S. J., and Odstrcil, D., E-mail: howard@boulder.swri.edu. 2013.
"THE THOMSON SURFACE. III. TRACKING FEATURES IN 3D". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/765/1/45.
@article{osti_22167625,
title = {THE THOMSON SURFACE. III. TRACKING FEATURES IN 3D},
author = {Howard, T. A. and DeForest, C. E. and Tappin, S. J. and Odstrcil, D., E-mail: howard@boulder.swri.edu},
abstractNote = {In this, the final installment in a three-part series on the Thomson surface, we present simulated observations of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) observed by a hypothetical polarizing white light heliospheric imager. Thomson scattering yields a polarization signal that can be exploited to locate observed features in three dimensions relative to the Thomson surface. We consider how the appearance of the CME changes with the direction of trajectory, using simulations of a simple geometrical shape and also of a more realistic CME generated using the ENLIL model. We compare the appearance in both unpolarized B and polarized pB light, and show that there is a quantifiable difference in the measured brightness of a CME between unpolarized and polarized observations. We demonstrate a technique for using this difference to extract the three-dimensional (3D) trajectory of large objects such as CMEs. We conclude with a discussion on how a polarizing heliospheric imager could be used to extract 3D trajectory information about CMEs or other observed features.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-637X/765/1/45},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22167625},
journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {0004-637X},
number = 1,
volume = 765,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2013},
month = {Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2013}
}