A revised cone model and its application to non-radial prominence eruptions

Abstract

Context. The traditional cone models achieve great success in studying the geometrical and kinematic properties of halo coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Aims. In this Letter, a revised cone model is proposed to investigate the properties of CMEs as a result of non-radial prominence eruptions. Methods. The cone apex is located at the source region of an eruption instead of the Sun center. The cone axis deviates from the local vertical by an inclination angle of θ1 and an angle of ϕ1. The length and angular width of the cone are r and ω, respectively. Results. The model was successfully applied to two CMEs originating from the western limb on 2011 August 11 and 2012 December 7. By comparing the projections of the cones with the CME fronts simultaneously observed by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory and the Extreme-Ultraviolet Imager on board the ahead Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory, the properties of the CMEs were derived, including the distance, angular width, inclination angle, deviation from the plane of the sky, and true speed in space. Conclusions. This revised cone model provides a new and complementary approach in exploring the whole evolutions of CMEs.