THE DRIVER OF CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS IN THE LOW CORONA: A FLUX ROPE
- School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China)
- School of Physics, Astronomy and Computational Sciences, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030 (United States)
Recent Solar Dynamic Observatory observations reveal that coronal mass ejections (CMEs) consist of a multi-temperature structure: a hot flux rope and a cool leading front (LF). The flux rope first appears as a twisted hot channel in the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) 94 A and 131 A passbands. The twisted hot channel initially lies along the polarity inversion line and then rises and develops into a semi-circular flux-rope-like structure during the impulsive acceleration phase of CMEs. In the meantime, the rising hot channel compresses the surrounding magnetic field and plasma, which successively stack into the CME LF. In this paper, we study in detail two well-observed CMEs that occurred on 2011 March 7 and 2011 March 8, respectively. Each of them is associated with an M-class flare. Through a kinematic analysis we find that (1) the hot channel rises earlier than the first appearance of the CME LF and the onset of the associated flare and (2) the speed of the hot channel is always faster than that of the LF, at least in the field of view of AIA. Thus, the hot channel acts as a continuous driver of the CME formation and eruption in the early acceleration phase. Subsequently, the two CMEs in white-light images can be well reproduced by the graduated cylindrical shell flux rope model. These results suggest that the pre-existing flux rope plays a key role in CME initiation and formation.
- OSTI ID:
- 22167198
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 763, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
DIFFERENTIAL EMISSION MEASURE ANALYSIS OF MULTIPLE STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS OF CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS IN THE INNER CORONA
Early evolution of an energetic coronal mass ejection and its relation to EUV waves