Visibility and rate of coronal mass ejections

Abstract

Two thirds of the Hα flares associated in time and position with coronal mass ejections (CME) observed by the Coronagraph/Polarimeter (C/P) or by the coronagraph on Skylab lie within 30° of the solar limb. Among type II flares (those with type II radio spectral bursts) with C/P observations, 10 are within 10° of the limb and 8 of these are associated with CME. The high rate of CME association at the limb is interpreted here to imply: (1) Most type II flares (at least 80%) are physically associated with mass motion in the corona (although about half of CME flares lack type II bursts). (2) The longitude window, centered on the plane of the sky, within which C/P and Skylab coronagraphs detect CME has halfwidth of 20° to 30°. (3) CME observed at polar position angles are unlikely to be flare associated. (4) The total number of mass ejections must be considerably greater than the number detected. The ratio of total number to observed number is estimated to be between 2 and 3, and the total occurrence frequency of coronal mass ejections at solar-cycle maximum to be comparable to that of flares of importance 1. The clear dependence of CME detection on flare position implies that the location of the mass ejection must be well described by the location of the associated flare, and that the ejected mass must have limited longitudinal extent in the corona, comparable to the width of the detection window and to the directly observed latitudinal extent of ∼35° +- 15° for CME observed by C/P and the Skylab coronagraph.