Search

Aims. Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are the most fascinating explosion in the solar system; however, their formation is still not fully understood. Methods. Here, we investigate a well-observed CME on 2021 May 07 that showed a typical three-component structure and was continuously observed from 0 to 3 Rsun by a combination of SDO/AIA (0--1.3 Rsun), PROBA2/SWAP (0--1.7 Rsun) and MLSO/K-Cor (1.05--3 Rsun). Furthermore, we compare the morphological discrepancy between the CME white-light bright core and EUV blob. In the end, we explore the origin of various radio bursts closely related to the interaction of the CME overexpansion with nearby streamer. Results. An interesting finding is that the height increases of both the CME leading front and bright core are dominated by the overexpansion during the CME formation. The aspect ratios of the CME bubble and bright core, quantifying the overexpansion, are found to decrease as the SO/STIX 4--10 keV and GOES 1--8 A soft X-ray flux of the associated flare increases near the peaks, indicating an important role of the flare reconnection in the first overexpansion. The CME bubble even takes place a second overexpansion although relatively weak, which is closely related to the compression with a nearby streamer and likely arises from an ideal MHD process. Moreover, the CME EUV blob is found to be relatively lower and wider than the CME white-light bright core, may correspond to the bottom part of the growing CME flux rope. The interaction between the CME and the streamer leads to two type II radio bursts, one normally drifting and one stationary, which are speculated to be induced at two different sources of the CME-driven shock front. The bidirectional electrons evidenced by series of "C-shaped" type III bursts suggest that the interchange reconnection be also involved during the interaction of the CME and streamer.

So far most studies on the structure of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are conducted through white-light coronagraphs, which demonstrate about one third of CMEs exhibit the typical three-part structure in the high corona (e.g., beyond 2 Rs), i.e., the bright front, the dark cavity and the bright core. In this paper, we address the CME structure in the low corona (e.g., below 1.3 Rs) through extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) passbands and find that the three-part CMEs in the white-light images can possess a similar three-part appearance in the EUV images, i.e., a leading edge, a low-density zone, and a filament or hot channel. The analyses identify that the leading edge and the filament or hot channel in the EUV passbands evolve into the front and the core later within several solar radii in the white-light passbands, respectively. What's more, we find that the CMEs without obvious cavity in the white-light images can also exhibit the clear three-part appearance in the EUV images, which means that the low-density zone in the EUV images (observed as the cavity in white-light images) can be compressed and/or transformed gradually by the expansion of the bright core and/or the reconnection of magnetic field surrounding the core during the CME propagation outward. Our study suggests that more CMEs can possess the clear three-part structure in their early eruption stage. The nature of the low-density zone between the leading edge and the filament or hot channel is discussed., Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, accepted by ApJ

Solar coronal radio bursts are enhanced radio emission excited by energetic electrons accelerated during solar eruptions, studies on which are important for investigating the origin and physical mechanism of energetic particles and further diagnosing coronal parameters. Earlier studies suffered from a lack of simultaneous high-quality imaging data of the radio burst and the eruptive structure in the inner corona. Here we present a study on a complex solar radio eruption consisting of a type II and three reversely-drifting type III bursts, using simultaneous EUV and radio imaging data. It is found that the type II burst is closely associated with a propagating and evolving CME-driven EUV shock structure, originated initially at the northern shock flank and later transferred to the top part of the shock. This source transfer is co-incident with the presence of shock decay and enhancing signatures observed at the corresponding side of the EUV front. The electron energy accelerated by the shock at the flank is estimated to be $\sim$ 0.3 c by examining the imaging data of the fast-drifting herringbone structure of the type II burst. The reversely-drifting type III sources are found to be within the ejecta and correlated with a likely reconnection event therein. Implications on further observational studies and relevant space-weather forecasting techniques are discussed., Comment: 16 pages,5 figures

Two major processes have been proposed to convert the coronal magnetic energy into the kinetic energy of a coronal mass ejection (CME): resistive magnetic reconnection and ideal macroscopic magnetohydrodynamic instability of magnetic flux rope. However, it remains elusive whether both processes play a comparable role or one of them prevails during a particular eruption. To shed light on this issue, we carefully studied energetic but flareless CMEs, \textit{i.e.}, fast CMEs not accompanied by any flares. Through searching the Coordinated Data Analysis Workshops (CDAW) database of CMEs observed in Solar Cycle 23, we found 13 such events with speeds larger than 1000 km s$^{-1}$. Other common observational features of these events are: (1) none of them originated in active regions; they were associated with eruptions of well-developed long filaments in quiet-Sun regions, (2) no apparent enhancement of flare emissions was present in soft X-ray, EUV and microwave data. Further studies of two events reveal that (1) the reconnection electric fields, as inferred from the product of the separation speed of post-eruption ribbons and the photospheric magnetic field measurement, were in general weak; (2) the period with a measurable reconnection electric field is considerably shorter than the total filament-CME acceleration time. These observations indicate that, for these fast CMEs, the magnetic energy was released mainly via the ideal flux rope instability through the work done by the large scale Lorentz force acting on the rope currents rather than via magnetic reconnections. We also suggest that reconnections play a less important role in accelerating CMEs in quiet Sun regions of weak magnetic field than those in active regions of strong magnetic field., Comment: 8 figures, accepted by ApJ

In recent studies (Feng et al., 2012; Kong et al., 2012), we proposed that source properties of type II radio bursts can be inferred through a causal relationship between the special shape of the type II dynamic spectrum (e.g., bump or break) and simultaneous extreme ultraviolet (EUV)/white light imaging observations (e.g., CME-shock crossing streamer structures). As a further extension of these studies, in this paper we examine the CME event dated on December 31 2007 associated with a multiple type II radio burst. We identify the presence of two spectral bump features on the observed dynamic spectrum. By combining observational analyses of the radio spectral observations and the EUV-white light imaging data, we conclude that the two spectral bumps are resulted from CME-shock propagating across dense streamers on the southern and northern sides of the CME, respectively. It is inferred that the corresponding two type II emissions originate separately from the two CME-shock flanks where the shock geometries are likely quasi-perpendicular or oblique. Since the emission lanes are bumped as a whole within a relatively short time, it suggests that the type IIs with bumps of the study are emitted from spatially confined sources (with a projected lateral dimension smaller than 0.05-0.1 R$_\odot$ at a fundamental frequency level of 20-30 MHz)., Comment: 19 pages; 4 figures

It has been suggested that type II radio bursts are due to energetic electrons accelerated at coronal shocks. Radio observations, however, have poor or no spatial resolutions to pinpoint the exact acceleration locations of these electrons. In this paper, we discuss a promising approach to infer the electron acceleration location by combining radio and white light observations. The key assumption is to relate specific morphological features (e.g. spectral bumps) of the dynamic spectra of type II radio bursts, to imaging features (e.g. CME going into a streamer) along the CME (and its driven shock) propagation. In this study, we examine the CME-streamer interaction for the solar eruption dated on 2003 November 1. The presence of spectral bump in the relevant type II radio burst is identified, which is interpreted as a natural result of the shock-radio emitting region entering the dense streamer structure. The study is useful for further determinations of the location of type II radio burst and the associated electron acceleration by CME-driven shock., Comment: 16 pages,5 figures

In this paper we conduct a data survey searching for well-defined streamer wave events observed by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) on-board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) throughout Solar Cycle 23. As a result, 8 candidate events are found and presented here. We compare different events and find that in most of them the driving CMEs ejecta are characterized by a high speed and a wide angular span, and the CME-streamer interactions occur generally along the flank of the streamer structure at an altitude no higher than the bottom of the field of view of LASCO C2. In addition, all front-side CMEs have accompanying flares. These common observational features shed light on the excitation conditions of streamer wave events. We also conduct a further analysis on one specific streamer wave event on 5 June 2003. The heliocentric distances of 4 wave troughs/crests at various exposure times are determined; they are then used to deduce the wave properties like period, wavelength, and phase speeds. It is found that both the period and wavelength increase gradually with the wave propagation along the streamer plasma sheet, and the phase speed of the preceding wave is generally faster than that of the trailing ones. The associated coronal seismological study yields the radial profiles of the Alfv\'en speed and magnetic field strength in the region surrounding the streamer plasma sheet. Both quantities show a general declining trend with time. This is interpreted as an observational manifestation of the recovering process of the CME-disturbed corona. It is also found that the Alfv\'enic critical point is at about 10 R$_\odot$ where the flow speed, which equals the Alfv\'en speed, is $\sim$ 200 km s$^{-1}$.

We present a novel method to evaluate the Alfven speed and the magnetic field strength along the streamer plasma sheet in the outer corona. The method is based on recent observations of streamer waves, which are regarded as the fast kink body mode carried by the plasma sheet structure and generated upon the impact of a fast CME (coronal mass ejection) on a nearby streamer. The mode propagates outwards with a phase speed consisting of two components. One is the phase speed of the mode in the plasma rest frame, the other is the speed of the solar wind streaming along the plasma sheet. The former can be well represented by the Alfven speed outside the plasma sheet, according to a linear wave dispersion analysis with a simplified slab model of magnetized plasmas. The radial profiles of the Alfven speed can be deduced with constraints put on the speed of the solar wind, which is done by making use of the measurements of streamer blobs flowing passively in the wind. The radial profiles of the strength of the coronal magnetic field can be depicted once the electron density distribution is specified, this is done by inverting the observed polarized brightness data. Comparing the diagnostic results corresponding to the first wave trough and the following crest, we find that both the Alfven speed and magnetic field strength at a fixed distance decline with time. This is suggestive of the recovering process of the CME-disturbed corona., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Between July 5th and July 7th 2004, two intriguing fast coronal mass ejection(CME)-streamer interaction events were recorded by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO). At the beginning of the events, the streamer was pushed aside from their equilibrium position upon the impact of the rapidly outgoing and expanding ejecta; then, the streamer structure, mainly the bright streamer belt, exhibited elegant large scale sinusoidal wavelike motions. The motions were apparently driven by the restoring magnetic forces resulting from the CME impingement, suggestive of magnetohydrodynamic kink mode propagating outwards along the plasma sheet of the streamer. The mode is supported collectively by the streamer-plasma sheet structure and is therefore named "streamer wave" in the present study. With the white light coronagraph data, we show that the streamer wave has a period of about 1 hour, a wavelength varying from 2 to 4 solar radii, an amplitude of about a few tens of solar radii, and a propagating phase speed in the range 300 to 500 km s$^{-1}$. We also find that there is a tendancy for the phase speed to decline with increasing heliocentric distance. These observations provide good examples of large scale wave phenomena carried by coronal structures, and have significance in developing seismological techniques for diagnosing plasma and magnetic parameters in the outer corona., Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

We search for persistent and quasi-periodic release events of streamer blobs during 2007 with the Large Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph on the \textit{Solar and Heliospheric Observatory} and assess the velocity of the slow solar wind along the plasma sheet above the corresponding streamer by measuring the dynamic parameters of blobs. We find 10 quasi-periodic release events of streamer blobs lasting for three to four days. In each day of these events, we observe three-five blobs. The results are in line with previous studies using data observed near the last solar minimum. Using the measured blob velocity as a proxy for that of the mean flow, we suggest that the velocity of the background slow solar wind near the Sun can vary significantly within a few hours. This provides an observational manifestation of the large velocity variability of the slow solar wind near the Sun., Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, accepted by Soalr Physics

Plasma blobs are observed to be weak density enhancements as radially stretched structures emerging from the cusps of quiescent coronal streamers. In this paper, it is suggested that the formation of blobs is a consequence of an intrinsic instability of coronal streamers occurring at a very localized region around the cusp. The evolutionary process of the instability, as revealed in our calculations, can be described as follows: (1) through the localized cusp region where the field is too weak to sustain the confinement, plasmas expand and stretch the closed field lines radially outward as a result of the freezing-in effect of plasma-magnetic field coupling; the expansion brings a strong velocity gradient into the slow wind regime providing the free energy necessary for the onset of a subsequent magnetohydrodynamic instability; (2) the instability manifests itself mainly as mixed streaming sausage-kink modes, the former results in pinches of elongated magnetic loops to provoke reconnections at one or many locations to form blobs. Then, the streamer system returns to the configuration with a lower cusp point, subject to another cycle of streamer instability. Although the instability is intrinsic, it does not lead to the loss of the closed magnetic flux, neither does it affect the overall feature of a streamer. The main properties of the modeled blobs, including their size, velocity profiles, density contrasts, and even their daily occurrence rate, are in line with available observations., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures

By means of the Furnstahl, Serot and Tang's model, the effects of surface tension and Coulomb interaction on the liquid-gas phase transition for finite nuclei are investigated. A limit pressure p-lim above which the liquid-gas phase transition cannot take place has been found. It is found that comparing to the Coulomb interaction, the contribution of surface tension is dominate in low temperature regions. The binodal surface is also addressed., Comment: LaTex, 8 pages with 6 figs

We study the properties of static and rotating neutron stars adopting non-relativistic equations of state (EOS) for asymmetric nuclear matter based on the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (BHF) scheme. The BHF calculation, with the continuous choice for the single particle potential, appears to be very close to the full EOS, which includes the three-hole line contribution calculated by solving the Bethe-Fadeev equations within the gap choice for the single particle potential. Three-body forces are included in order to reproduce the correct saturation point for nuclear matter. A comparison with fully relativistic many-body calculations of nuclear matter EOS is made., Comment: 8 pages, Latex, 3 figures included. To appear in "Hirschegg '98: Nuclear Astrophysics", Proceedings of Int. Workshop XXVI on Gross Properties of Nuclei and Nuclear Excitations, January 11-17 1998, Hirschegg, Austria