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Propagation of the 2012 March Coronal Mass Ejections from the Sun to Heliopause
In 2012 March the Sun exhibited extraordinary activities. In particular, the
active region NOAA AR 11429 emitted a series of large coronal mass ejections
(CMEs) which were imaged by STEREO as it rotated with the Sun from the east to
west. These sustained eruptions are expected to generate a global shell of
disturbed material sweeping through the heliosphere. A cluster of shocks and
interplanetary CMEs (ICMEs) were observed near the Earth, and are propagated
outward from 1 AU using an MHD model. The transient streams interact with each
other, which erases memory of the source and results in a large merged
interaction region (MIR) with a preceding shock. The MHD model predicts that
the shock and MIR would reach 120 AU around 2013 April 22, which agrees well
with the period of radio emissions and the time of a transient disturbance in
galactic cosmic rays detected by Voyager 1. These results are important for
understanding the "fate" of CMEs in the outer heliosphere and provide
confidence that the heliopause is located around 120 AU from the Sun.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
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