LARGE-SCALE EXTREME-ULTRAVIOLET DISTURBANCES ASSOCIATED WITH A LIMB CORONAL MASS EJECTION

Abstract

We present composite observations of a coronal mass ejection (CME) and the associated large-scale extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) disturbances on 2007 December 31 by the Extreme-ultraviolet Imager (EUVI) and COR1 coronagraph on board the recent Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory mission. For this limb event, the EUV disturbances exhibit some typical characteristics of EUV Imaging Telescope waves: (1) in the 195 A bandpass, diffuse brightenings are observed propagating oppositely away from the flare site with a velocity of ~260 km s–1, leaving dimmings behind; (2) when the brightenings encounter the boundary of a polar coronal hole, they stop there to form a stationary front. Multi-temperature analysis of the propagating EUV disturbances favors a heating process over a density enhancement in the disturbance region. Furthermore, the EUVI-COR1 composite display shows unambiguously that the propagation of the diffuse brightenings coincides with a large lateral expansion of the CME, which consequently results in a double-loop-structured CME leading edge. Based on these observational facts, we suggest that the wave-like EUV disturbances are a result of magnetic reconfiguration related to the CME liftoff rather than true waves in the corona. Reconnections between the expanding CME magnetic field lines and surrounding quiet-Sun magnetic loops account for the propagating diffuse brightenings; dimmings appear behind them as a consequence of volume expansion. X-ray and radio data provide us with complementary evidence.