MAGNETIC FIELD STRENGTH IN THE UPPER SOLAR CORONA USING WHITE-LIGHT SHOCK STRUCTURES SURROUNDING CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
To measure the magnetic field strength in the solar corona, we examined 10 fast ({>=}1000 km s{sup -1}) limb coronal mass ejections(CMEs) that show clear shock structures in Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph images. By applying the piston-shock relationship to the observed CME's standoff distance and electron density compression ratio, we estimated the Mach number, Alfven speed, and magnetic field strength in the height range 3-15 solar radii (R{sub s} ). The main results from this study are as follows: (1) the standoff distance observed in the solar corona is consistent with those from a magnetohydrodynamic model and near-Earth observations; (2) the Mach number as a shock strength is in the range 1.49-3.43 from the standoff distance ratio, but when we use the density compression ratio, the Mach number is in the range 1.47-1.90, implying that the measured density compression ratio is likely to be underestimated owing to observational limits; (3) the Alfven speed ranges from 259 to 982 km s{sup -1} and the magnetic field strength is in the range 6-105 mG when the standoff distance is used; (4) if we multiply the density compression ratio by a factor of two, the Alfven speeds and the magnetic field strengths are consistent in both methods; and (5) the magnetic field strengths derived from the shock parameters are similar to those of empirical models and previous estimates.
- OSTI ID:
- 22011743
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 746, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF CORONAL MASS EJECTION ON 2011 MARCH 7: ONE-TEMPERATURE AND TWO-TEMPERATURE MODEL COMPARISON
PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF CORONAL PLASMA AT THE TRANSIT OF A SHOCK DRIVEN BY A CORONAL MASS EJECTION