Effect of the Weakened Heliosphere in Solar Cycle 24 on the Properties of Coronal Mass Ejections

Abstract

Solar cycle (SC) 24 has come to an end by the end of 2019, providing the opportunity to compare two full cycles to understand the manifestations of SC 24 - the smallest cycle in the Space Age that has resulted in a weak heliospheric state indicated by the reduced pressure. The backreaction of the heliospheric state is to make the coronal mass ejections (CMEs) appear physically bigger than in SC 23, but their magnetic content has been diluted resulting in a lower geoeffectiveness. The heliospheric magnetic field is also lower in SC 24, leading to the dearth of high-energy solar energetic particle (SEP) events. These space-weather events closely follow fast and wide (FW) CMEs. All but FW CMEs are higher in number in SC 24. The active region potential energy is lower in SC 24, consistent with the reduced rate of FW CMEs. The CME rate - sunspot number (SSN) correlation is high in both cycles but the rate increases faster in SC 24. We find that limb CMEs are slower in SC 24 as in the general population but wider. Limb halo CMEs also follow the same trend of slower SC-24 CMEs. However, the SC-24 CMEs become halos at a shorter distance from the Sun. Thus, slower CMEs becoming halos sooner is a clear indication of the backreaction of the weaker heliospheric state on CMEs. We can further pin down the heliospheric state as the reason for the altered CME properties because the associated flares have similar distributions in the two cycles – unaffected by the heliospheric state.