Coronal response to an EUV wave from DEM analysis

EUV (Extreme-Ultraviolet) waves are globally propagating disturbances that have been observed since the era of the SoHO/EIT instrument. Although the kinematics of the wave front and secondary wave components have been widely studied, there is not much known about the generation and plasma properties of the wave. In this paper we discuss the effect of an EUV wave on the local plasma as it passes through the corona. We studied the EUV wave, generated during the 2011 February 15 X-class flare/CME event, using Differential Emission Measure diagnostics. We analyzed regions on the path of the EUV wave and investigated the local density and temperature changes. From our study we have quantitatively confirmed previous results that during wave passage the plasma visible in the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) 171A channel is getting heated to higher temperatures corresponding to AIA 193A and 211A channels. We have calculated an increase of 6 - 9% in density and 5 - 6% in temperature during the passage of the EUV wave. We have compared the variation in temperature with the adiabatic relationship and have quantitatively demonstrated the phenomenon of heating due to adiabatic compression at the wave front. However, the cooling phase does not follow adiabatic relaxation but shows slow decay indicating slow energy release being triggered by the wave passage. We have also identified that heating is taking place at the front of the wave pulse rather than at the rear. Our results provide support for the case that the event under study here is a compressive fast-mode wave or a shock.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

Eruptive-Impulsive Homologous M-class Flares Associated with Double-Decker Flux Rope Configuration in Mini-Sigmoid of NOAA 12673

We present a multiwavelength analysis of two homologous, short lived, impulsive flares of GOES class M1.4 and M7.3, that occurred from a very localized mini-sigmoid region within the active region NOAA 12673 on 2017 September 7. Both flares were associated with initial jet-like plasma ejection which for a brief amount of time moved toward east in a collimated manner before drastically changing direction toward southwest. Non-linear force-free field extrapolation reveals the presence of a compact double-decker flux rope configuration in the mini-sigmoid region prior to the flares. A set of open field lines originating near the active region which were most likely responsible for the anomalous dynamics of the erupted plasma, gave the earliest indication of an emerging coronal hole near the active region. The horizontal field distribution suggests a rapid decay of the field above the active region, implying high proneness of the flux rope system toward eruption. In view of the low coronal double-decker flux ropes and compact extreme ultra-violet (EUV) brightening beneath the filament along with associated photospheric magnetic field changes, our analysis supports the combination of initial tether-cutting reconnection and subsequent torus instability for driving the eruption.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables; accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

CME-CME Interactions as Sources of CME Geoeffectiveness : The Formation of the Complex Ejecta and Intense Geomagnetic Storm in 2017 Early September

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are the primary sources of intense disturbances at Earth, where their geo-effectiveness is largely determined by their dynamic pressure and internal magnetic field, which can be significantly altered during interactions with other CMEs in interplanetary space. We analyse three successive CMEs that erupted from the Sun during September 4-6, 2017, investigating the role of CME-CME interactions as source of the associated intense geomagnetic storm (Dst(min)=-142 nT on September 7). To quantify the impact of interactions on the (geo-)effectiveness of individual CMEs, we perform global heliospheric simulations with the EUHFORIA model, using observation-based initial parameters with the additional purpose of validating the predictive capabilities of the model for complex CME events. The simulations show that around 0.45 AU, the shock driven by the September 6 CME started compressing a preceding magnetic ejecta formed by the merging of two CMEs launched on September 4, significantly amplifying its B-z until a maximum factor of 2.8 around 0.9 AU. The following gradual conversion of magnetic energy into kinetic and thermal components reduced the B-z amplification until its almost complete disappearance around 1.8 AU. We conclude that a key factor at the origin of the intense storm triggered by the September 4-6, 2017 CMEs was their arrival at Earth during the phase of maximum B-z amplification. Our analysis highlights how the amplification of the magnetic field of individual CMEs in space-time due to interaction processes can be characterised by a growth, a maximum, and a decay phase, suggesting that the time interval between the CME eruptions and their relative speeds are critical factors in determining the resulting impact of complex CMEs at various heliocentric distances (helio-effectiveness).Peer reviewe

Genesis and Impulsive Evolution of the 2017 September 10 Coronal Mass Ejection

The X8.2 event of 2017 September 10 provides unique observations to study the genesis, magnetic morphology, and impulsive dynamics of a very fast coronal mass ejection (CME). Combining GOES-16/SUVI and SDO/AIA EUV imagery, we identify a hot (T ≈ 10–15 MK) bright rim around a quickly expanding cavity, embedded inside a much larger CME shell (T ≈ 1–2 MK). The CME shell develops from a dense set of large AR loops (0.5Rs) and seamlessly evolves into the CME front observed in LASCO C2. The strong lateral overexpansion of the CME shell acts as a piston initiating the fast EUV wave. The hot cavity rim is demonstrated to be a manifestation of the dominantly poloidal flux and frozen-in plasma added to the rising flux rope by magnetic reconnection in the current sheet beneath. The same structure is later observed as the core of the white-light CME, challenging the traditional interpretation of the CME three-part morphology. The large amount of added magnetic flux suggested by these observations explains the extreme accelerations of the radial and lateral expansion of the CME shell and cavity, all reaching values of 5–10 km s −2 . The acceleration peaks occur simultaneously with the first RHESSI 100–300 keV hard X-ray burst of the associated flare, further underlining the importance of the reconnection process for the impulsive CME evolution. Finally, the much higher radial propagation speed of the flux rope in relation to the CME shell causes a distinct deformation of the white-light CME front and shock

Properties of Flare-imminent versus Flare-quiet Active Regions from the Chromosphere through the Corona. I. Introduction of the AIA Active Region Patches (AARPs)

We begin here a series of papers examining the chromospheric and coronal properties of solar active regions. This first paper describes an extensive data set of images from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on the Solar Dynamics Observatory curated for large-sample analysis of this topic. Based on (and constructed to coordinate with) the “Active Region Patches” as identified by the pipeline data analysis system for the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on the same mission (the “HARPs”), the “AIA Active Region Patches” (AARPs), described herein, comprise an unbiased multiwavelength set of FITS files downsampled spatially only by way of HARP-centered patch extractions (full spatial sampling is retained), and downsampled in the temporal domain but still able to describe both short-lived kinematics and longer-term trends. The AARPs database enables physics-informed parameterization and analysis using nonparametric discriminant analysis in Paper II of this series, and is validated for analysis using differential emission measure techniques. The AARP data set presently covers mid-2010 through 2018 December, is ≈9 TB in size, and is available through the Solar Data Analysis Center

Perturbative extension of the standard model with a 125 GeV Higgs boson and magnetic dark matter

We introduce a perturbative extension of the standard model featuring a new dark matter sector together with a 125 GeV Higgs. The new sector consists of a vectorlike heavy electron (E), a complex scalar electron (S) and a standard model singlet Dirac fermion (χ). The interactions among the dark matter candidate χ and the standard model particles occur via loop-induced processes involving the operator SĒχy, with y being the Yukawa-like coupling. The model is an explicit underlying realization of the light magnetic dark matter effective model introduced earlier to alleviate the tension among several direct dark matter search experiments. We further constrain the parameters of the underlying theory using results from the Large Hadron Collider. The extension can accommodate the recently observed properties of the Higgs-like state and leads to interesting predictions. Finally, we show that the model's collider phenomenology and constraints nicely complement the ones coming from dark matter searches. © 2013 American Physical Society

Properties of Flare-imminent versus Flare-quiet Active Regions from the Chromosphere through the Corona. II. Nonparametric Discriminant Analysis Results from the NWRA Classification Infrastructure (NCI)

A large sample of active-region-targeted time-series images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), the AIA Active Region Patch database (Paper I) is used to investigate whether parameters describing the coronal, transition region, and chromospheric emission can differentiate a region that will imminently produce a solar flare from one that will not. Parameterizations based on moment analysis of direct and running-difference images provide for physically interpretable results from nonparametric discriminant analysis. Across four event definitions including both 24 hr and 6 hr validity periods, 160 image-based parameters capture the general state of the atmosphere, rapid brightness changes, and longer-term intensity evolution. We find top Brier Skill Scores in the 0.07–0.33 range, True Skill Statistics in the 0.68–0.82 range (both depending on event definition), and Receiver Operating Characteristic Skill Scores above 0.8. Total emission can perform notably, as can steeply increasing or decreasing brightness, although mean brightness measures do not, demonstrating the well-known active-region size/flare productivity relation. Once a region is flare productive, the active-region coronal plasma appears to stay hot. The 94 Å filter data provide the most parameters with discriminating power, with indications that it benefits from sampling multiple physical regimes. In particular, classification success using higher-order moments of running-difference images indicate a propensity for flare-imminent regions to display short-lived small-scale brightening events. Parameters describing the evolution of the corona can provide flare-imminent indicators, but at no preference over “static” parameters. Finally, all parameters and NPDA-derived probabilities are available to the community for additional research

Using radio triangulation to understand the origin of two subsequent type II radio bursts

Context. Eruptive events such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and flares accelerate particles and generate shock waves which can arrive at Earth and can disturb the magnetosphere. Understanding the association between CMEs and CME-driven shocks is therefore highly important for space weather studies. Aims. We present a study of the CME/flare event associated with two type II bursts observed on September 27, 2012. The aim of the study is to understand the relationship between the observed CME and the two distinct shock wave signatures. Methods. The multiwavelength study of the eruptive event (CME/flare) was complemented with radio triangulation of the associated radio emission and modelling of the CME and the shock wave employing MHD simulations. Results. We found that, although temporal association between the type II bursts and the CME is good, the low-frequency type II (LF-type II) burst occurs significantly higher in the corona than the CME and its relationship to the CME is not straightforward. The analysis of the EIT wave (coronal bright front) shows the fastest wave component to be in the southeast quadrant of the Sun. This is also the quadrant in which the source positions of the LF-type II were found to be located, probably resulting from the interaction between the shock wave and a streamer. Conclusions. The relationship between the CME/flare event and the shock wave signatures is discussed using the temporal association, as well as the spatial information of the radio emission. Further, we discuss the importance and possible effects of the frequently non-radial propagation of the shock wave.Peer reviewe