Solar Terrestrial Relations Research Articles

Observations of a Solar Energetic Particle Event From Inside and Outside the Coma of Comet 67P.

We analyze observations of a solar energetic particle (SEP) event at Rosetta's target comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko during 6-10 March 2015. The comet was 2.15AU from the Sun, with the Rosetta spacecraft approximately 70km from the nucleus placing it deep inside the comet's coma and allowing us to study its response. The Eastern flank of an interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) also encountered Rosetta on 6 and 7 March. Rosetta Plasma Consortium data indicate increases in ionization rates, and cometary water group pickup ions exceeding 1keV. Increased charge exchange reactions between solar wind ions and cometary neutrals also indicate increased upstream neutral populations consistent with enhanced SEP induced surface activity. In addition, the most intense parts of the event coincide with observations interpreted as an infant cometary bow shock, indicating that the SEPs may have enhanced the formation and/or intensified the observations. These solar transient events may also have pushed the cometopause closer to the nucleus. We track and discuss characteristics of the SEP event using remote observations by SOHO, WIND, and GOES at the Sun, in situ measurements at Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory Ahead, Mars and Rosetta, and ENLIL modeling. Based on its relatively prolonged duration, gradual and anisotropic nature, and broad angular spread in the heliosphere, we determine the main particle acceleration source to be a distant ICME which emerged from the Sun on 6 March 2015 and was detected locally in the Martian ionosphere but was never encountered by 67P directly. The ICME's shock produced SEPs for several days which traveled to the in situ observation sites via magnetic field line connections.

Shock-accelerated electrons during the fast expansion of a coronal mass ejection

Context.Some of of the most prominent sources for energetic particles in our Solar System are huge eruptions of magnetised plasma from the Sun called coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which usually drive shocks that accelerate charged particles up to relativistic energies. In particular, energetic electron beams can generate radio bursts through the plasma emission mechanism. The main types of bursts associated with CME shocks are type II and herringbone bursts. However, it is currently unknown where early accelerated electrons that produce metric type II bursts and herringbones propagate and when they escape the solar atmosphere.Aims.Here, we investigate the acceleration location, escape, and propagation directions of electron beams during the early evolution of a strongly expanding CME-driven shock wave associated with herrinbgone bursts.Methods.We used ground-based radio observations from the Nançay Radioheliograph combined with space-based extreme-ultraviolet and white-light observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory and and the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory. We produced a three-dimensional (3D) representation of the electron acceleration locations which, combined with results from magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) models of the solar corona, was used to investigate the origin of the herringbone bursts observed.Results.Multiple herringbone bursts are found close to the CME flank in plane-of-sky images. Some of these herringbone bursts have unusual inverted J shapes and opposite drifting herringbones also show opposite senses of circular polarisation. By using a 3D approach combined with the radio properties of the observed bursts, we find evidence that the first radio emission in the CME eruption most likely originates from electrons that initially propagate in regions of low Alfvén speeds and along closed magnetic field lines forming a coronal streamer. The radio emission appears to propagate in the same direction as a coronal wave in three dimensions.Conclusions.The CME appears to inevitably expand into a coronal streamer where it meets ideal conditions to generate a fast shock which, in turn, can accelerate electrons. However, at low coronal heights, the streamer consists of exclusively closed field lines indicating that the early accelerated electron beams do not escape. This is in contrast with electrons which, in later stages, escape the corona so that they are detected by spacecraft.

Multi-Spacecraft Observations of an Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejection Interacting with Two Solar-Wind Regimes Observed by the Ulysses and Twin-STEREO Spacecraft

We present a combined study of a coronal mass ejection (CME), revealed in a unique orbital configuration that permits the analysis of remote-sensing observations on 27 June 2007 from the twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO)-A and -B spacecraft and of its subsequent in situ counterpart outside the ecliptic plane, the interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) observed on 04 July 2007 by Ulysses at 1.5 AU and heliographic-Earth-ecliptic coordinates system (HEE) 33° latitude and 49° longitude. We apply a triangulation method to the STEREO Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI) COR2 coronagraph images of the CME, and a self-similar expansion fitting method to STEREO/SECCHI Heliospheric Imager (HI)-B. At Ulysses we observe: a preceding forward shock, followed by a sheath region, a magnetic cloud, a rear forward shock, followed by a compression region due to a succeeding high-speed stream (HSS) interacting with the ICME. From a minimum variance analysis (MVA) and a length-scale analysis we infer that the magnetic cloud at Ulysses, with a duration of 24 h, has a west-north-east configuration, length scale of ≈0.2 AU, and mean expansion speed of 14.2 km s−1. The relatively small size of this ICME is likely to be a result of its interaction with the succeeding HSS. This ICME differs from the previously known over-expanding types observed by Ulysses, in that it straddles a region between the slow and fast solar wind that in itself drives the rear shock. We describe the agreements and limitations of these observations in comparison with 3D magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) heliospheric simulations of the ICME in the context of a complex solar-wind environment.

FarNet-II: An improved solar far-side active region detection method

Context. Activity on the far side of the Sun is routinely studied through the analysis of the seismic oscillations detected on the near side using helioseismic techniques such as phase-shift sensitive holography. Detections made through those methods are limited to strong active regions due to the need for a high signal-to-noise ratio. Recently, the neural network FarNet was developed to improve these detections. This network extracts more information from helioseismic far-side maps, enabling the detection of smaller and weaker active regions. Aims. We aim to create a new machine learning tool, FarNet-II, which further increases FarNet’s scope, and to evaluate its performance in comparison to FarNet and the standard helioseismic method for detecting far-side activity. Methods. We developed FarNet-II, a neural network that retains some of the general characteristics of FarNet but improves the detections in general, as well as the temporal coherence among successive predictions. The main novelties of the new neural network are the implementation of attention and convolutional long short-term memory (ConvLSTM) modules. A cross-validation approach, training the network 37 times with a different validation set for each run, was employed to leverage the limited amount of data available. We evaluate the performance of FarNet-II using three years of extreme ultraviolet observations of the far side of the Sun acquired with the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) as a proxy of activity. The results from FarNet-II were compared with those obtained from FarNet and the standard helioseismic method using the Dice coefficient as a metric. Given that the application of the ConvLSTM modules can affect the accuracy as a function of the position on the sequence, we take this potential dependency into account in the evaluation. Results. FarNet-II achieves a Dice coefficient that improves that of FarNet by over 0.2 points for every output position on the sequences from the evaluation dates. Its improvement over FarNet is higher than that of FarNet over the standard method. Conclusions. The new network is a very promising tool for improving the detection of activity on the far side of the Sun given by pure helioseismic techniques. Space weather forecasts can potentially benefit from the higher sensitivity provided by this novel method.

Multiwavelength Observations of a Partial Filament Eruption on 13 June 2011

In this paper, we report the multiwavelength observations of the partial filament eruption associated with a C1.2 class flare in NOAA active region 11236 on 13 June 2011. The event occurred at the eastern limb in the field of view (FOV) of Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spacecraft and was close to the disk center in the FOV of Extreme-UltraViolet Imager (EUVI) onboard the Behind Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft. During eruption, the filament splits into two parts: the major part and the runaway part. The major part flows along closed loops and experiences bifurcation at the loop top. Some of the materials move forward and reach the remote footpoint, while the remainder returns back to the original footpoint. The runaway part flows along open-field lines, which is evidenced by a flare-related type-III radio burst. The runaway part also undergoes bifurcation. The upper branch escapes the corona and evolves into a jet-like narrow coronal mass ejection (CME) at a speed of ∼ 324 km s−1, while the lower branch falls back to the solar surface. A schematic cartoon is proposed to explain the event and provides a new mechanism of partial filament eruptions.

Tracking a Beam of Electrons from the Low Solar Corona into Interplanetary Space with the Low Frequency Array, Parker Solar Probe, and 1 au Spacecraft

Type III radio bursts are the result of plasma emission from mildly relativistic electron beams propagating from the low solar corona into the heliosphere where they can eventually be detected in situ if they align with the location of a heliospheric spacecraft. Here we observe a type III radio burst from 0.1 to 16 MHz using the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) FIELDS Radio Frequency Spectrometer (RFS) and from 20 to 80 MHz using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR). This event was not associated with any detectable flare activity but was part of an ongoing type III and noise storm that occurred during PSP encounter 2. A deprojection of the LOFAR radio sources into 3D space shows that the type III radio burst sources were located on open magnetic field from 1.6 to 3 R ⊙ and originated from a near-equatorial active region around longitude E48°. Combining PSP/RFS observations with WIND/WAVES and Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) WAVES, we reconstruct the type III radio source trajectory in the heliosphere interior to PSP’s position, assuming ecliptic confinement. An energetic electron enhancement is subsequently detected in situ at the STEREO A spacecraft at compatible times, although the onset and duration suggests the individual burst contributes a subset of the enhancement. This work shows relatively small-scale flux emergence in the corona can cause the injection of electron beams from the low corona into the heliosphere, without needing a strong solar flare. The complementary nature of combined ground and space-based radio observations, especially in the era of PSP, is also clearly highlighted by this study.

Improved AI-generated Solar Farside Magnetograms by STEREO and SDO Data Sets and Their Release

Here we greatly improve artificial intelligence (AI)–generated solar farside magnetograms using data sets from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) and Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). We modify our previous deep-learning model and configuration of input data sets to generate more realistic magnetograms than before. First, our model, which is called Pix2PixCC, uses updated objective functions, which include correlation coefficients (CCs) between the real and generated data. Second, we construct input data sets of our model: solar farside STEREO extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) observations together with nearest frontside SDO data pairs of EUV observations and magnetograms. We expect that the frontside data pairs provide historic information on magnetic field polarity distributions. We demonstrate that magnetic field distributions generated by our model are more consistent with the real ones than previously, in consideration of several metrics. The averaged pixel-to-pixel CC for full disk, active regions, and quiet regions between real and AI-generated magnetograms with 8 × 8 binning are 0.88, 0.91, and 0.70, respectively. Total unsigned magnetic flux and net magnetic flux of the AI-generated magnetograms are consistent with those of real ones for the test data sets. It is interesting to note that our farside magnetograms produce polar field strengths and magnetic field polarities consistent with those of nearby frontside magnetograms for solar cycles 24 and 25. Now we can monitor the temporal evolution of active regions using solar farside magnetograms by the model together with the frontside ones. Our AI-generated solar farside magnetograms are now publicly available at the Korean Data Center for SDO (http://sdo.kasi.re.kr).

A Dynamic Deep-learning Model for Generating a Magnetogram Sequence from an SDO/AIA EUV Image Sequence

The solar magnetic field dominates solar activities in the solar atmosphere, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has been in operation from 2010, providing a full-disk photospheric magnetogram. However, with a single view of observation, SDO/HMI cannot provide a global view of the Sun at the same time, so the farside of the Sun is blind to us. The Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) provides two different views of the Sun with complementary viewing angles relative to SDO/HMI. However, it did not carry a magnetograph, but an extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) imager. Fortunately, deep learning has been proved to generate a solar farside magnetogram from STEREO farside EUV observation. Although a single generated magnetogram is morphologically very similar to ground truth, the sequence of the generated magnetogram has noticeable magnetic field fluctuation, which cannot be ignored when it is displayed as a time series, especially at an active region. This fluctuation is represented by sudden magnetic polarity reversal and drifting of magnetic field distribution. To mitigate this problem, a novel dynamic deep-learning model by integrating a convolutional gated recurrent units (convGRU) model into a pix2pix baseline is proposed in this paper. It can generate a sequence of a magnetogram with smooth transition among consecutive magnetograms by exploring spatio-temporal information of an input EUV image sequence. From both quantitative and qualitative comparisons, the proposed model can generate a magnetogram sequence more close to real observation.

HENRI DESLANDRES: FROM MOLECULAR TO SOLAR PHYSICS

Henri Deslandres was one of the first French astrophysicists. Aged 28, he left a promising military career for research on molecular spectra and later on the atmosphere of the Sun. He developed a considerable instrumentation in both domains. In particular, he conceived and built several generations of spectroheliographs at Paris, then Meudon Observatories, and initiated a systematic patrol of solar activity and solar-terrestrial relations that has survived to this day. He directed Meudon Observatory from 1908 to its merging with Paris Observatory in 1926, and was also Director of the merged institutions until his retirement in 1928. In this paper, I concentrate on his work on the Sun, in which he showed considerable qualities as an instrument builder, an organizer and an observer, although he was not so successful in interpreting observations. I leave to others a study of his considerable, life-long work on molecular spectra.

The Lyα Emission in a C1.4 Solar Flare Observed by the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager aboard Solar Orbiter

The hydrogen Lyα (H i Lyα) emission during solar flares has rarely been studied in spatially resolved images, and its physical origin has not been fully understood. In this paper, we present novel Lyα images for a C1.4 solar flare (SOL2021-08-20T22:00) from the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager aboard Solar Orbiter, together with multi-wave-band and multiperspective observations from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory Ahead and the Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft. It is found that the Lyα emission has a good temporal correlation with the thermal emissions at 1–8 Å and 5–7 keV, indicating that the flaring Lyα is mainly produced by a thermal process in this small event. However, nonthermal electrons play a minor role in generating Lyα at flare ribbons during the rise phase of the flare, as revealed by the hard X-ray imaging and spectral fitting. Besides originating from flare ribbons, the Lyα emission can come from flare loops, likely caused by plasma heating and also cooling that happen in different flare phases. It is also found that the Lyα emission shows fairly similar features to the He ii λ304 emission in light curve and spatiotemporal variation, along with small differences. These observational results improve our understanding of the Lyα emission in solar flares and also provide some insights for investigating the Lyα emission in stellar flares.

Extracting the Heliographic Coordinates of Coronal Rays Using Images from WISPR/Parker Solar Probe

The Wide-field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR) onboard Parker Solar Probe (PSP), observing in white light, has a fixed angular field of view, extending from 13.5 degree to 108 degree from the Sun and approximately 50 degree in the transverse direction. In January 2021, on its seventh orbit, PSP crossed the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) near perihelion at a distance of 20 solar radii. At this time, WISPR observed a broad band of highly variable solar wind and multiple coronal rays. For six days around perihelion, PSP was moving with an angular velocity exceeding that of the Sun. During this period, WISPR was able to image coronal rays as PSP approached and then passed under or over them. We have developed a technique for using the multiple viewpoints of the coronal rays to determine their location (longitude and latitude) in a heliocentric coordinate system and used the technique to determine the coordinates of three coronal rays. The technique was validated by comparing the results to observations of the coronal rays from Solar and Heliophysics Observatory (SOHO) / Large Angle and Spectrometric COronagraph (LASCO)/C3 and Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO)-A/COR2. Comparison of the rays' locations were also made with the HCS predicted by a 3D MHD model. In the future, results from this technique can be used to validate dynamic models of the corona.

A magnetic flux rope configuration derived by optimization of two-spacecraft In-situ measurements

Increasingly one interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) structure can propagate across more than one spacecraft in the solar wind. This usually happens when two or more spacecraft are nearly radially aligned with a relatively small longitudinal separation angle from one another. This provides multi-point measurements of the same structure and enables better characterization and validation of modeling results of the structures embedded in these ICMEs. We report such an event during October 13-14, 2019 when the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory Ahead (STA) spacecraft and the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) crossed one ICME structure at two different locations with nominal separations in both heliocentric distances and the longitudinal angles. We first perform an optimal fitting to the STA in-situ measurements, based on an analytic quasi-three dimensional (3D) model, yielding a minimum reduced χ2 = 0.468. Then we further apply the optimization approach by combining the magnetic field measurements from both spacecraft along their separate paths across the ICME structure. We find that the output based on the optimization (with the minimum reduced χ2 = 3.15) of the combined two-spacecraft dataset yields a more consistent result, given the much improved agreement of the model output with PSP data. The result demonstrates a magnetic flux rope configuration with clear 3D spatial variations.

Quantifying the Effect of ICME Removal and Observation Age for in Situ Solar Wind Data Assimilation

AbstractAccurate space weather forecasting requires advanced knowledge of the solar wind conditions in near‐Earth space. Data assimilation (DA) combines model output and observations to find an optimum estimation of reality and has led to large advances in terrestrial weather forecasting. It is now being applied to space weather forecasting. Here, we use solar wind DA with in‐situ observations to reconstruct solar wind speed in the ecliptic plane between 30 solar radii and Earth's orbit. This is used to provide solar wind speed hindcasts. Here, we assimilate observations from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory and the near‐Earth data set, OMNI. Analysis of two periods of time, one in solar minimum and one in solar maximum, reveals that assimilating observations from multiple spacecraft provides a more accurate forecast than using any one spacecraft individually. The age of the observations also has a significant impact on forecast error, whereby the mean absolute error (MAE) sharply increases by up to 23% when the forecast lead time first exceeds the corotation time associated with the longitudinal separation between the observing spacecraft and the forecast location. It was also found that removing coronal mass ejections from the DA input and verification time series reduces the forecast MAE by up to 10% as it removes false streams from the forecast time series. This work highlights the importance of an L5 space weather monitoring mission for near‐Earth solar wind forecasting and suggests that an additional mission to L4 would further improve future solar wind DA forecasting capabilities.

Stereoscopic diagnosing of a filament-cavity flux rope system by tracing the path of a two-sided-loop jet

ABSTRACT The fine magnetic structure is vitally important to understanding the formation, stabilization, and eruption of solar filaments, but so far, it is still an open question yet to be resolved. Using stereoscopic observations taken by the Solar Dynamics Observatory and Solar TErrestrial RElations Obsevatory, we studied the generation mechanism of a two-sided-loop jet (TJ) and the ejection process of the jet plasma into the overlying filament-cavity system. We find that the generation of the two-sided-loop jet was due to the magnetic reconnection between an emerging flux loop and the overlying filament. The jet’s two arms ejected along the filament axis during the initial stage. Then, the north arm bifurcated into two parts at about 50 Mm from the reconnection site. After the bifurcation, the two bifurcated parts were along the filament axis and the cavity which hosted the filament, respectively. By tracing the ejecting plasma flows of the TJ inside the filament, we not only measured that the magnetic twist stored in the filament was at least 5π but also found that the fine magnetic structure of the filament-cavity flux rope system is in well agreement with the theoretical results of Magnetic flux rope models.

Polarimetric Studies of a Fast Coronal Mass Ejection

In this work we performed a polarimetric study of a fast and wide coronal mass ejection (CME) observed on 12 July 2012 by the COR1 and COR2 instruments onboard the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) mission. The CME source region was an X1.4 flare located at approximately S15W01 on the solar disk, as observed from the Earth’s perspective. The position of the CME as derived from the 3D Graduated Cylindrical Shell (GCS) reconstruction method was at around S18W00 at 2.5 solar radii and S07W00 at 5.7 solar radii, meaning that the CME was deflected towards the Equator while propagating outward in the corona. The projected speed of the leading edge of the CME also evolved from around 200 km s−1 in the lower corona to around 1000 km s−1 in the COR2 field of view. The degree of polarisation of the CME is around 65% but it can go as high as 80% in some CME regions. The CME showed deviation of the polarisation angle from the tangential in the range of 10 – 15∘ (or more). Our analysis showed that this is mostly due to the fact that the sequence of three polarised images from where the polarised parameters are derived is not taken simultaneously, but at a difference of a few seconds in time. In this interval of time, the CME moves by at least two pixels in the FOV of the instruments and this displacement results in uncertainties in the polarisation parameters (degree of polarisation, polarisation angle, etc.). We propose some steps forward to improve the derivation of the polarisation. This study is important for analysing the future data from instruments with polarisation capabilities.

Toward a Unified Explanation for the Three-part Structure of Solar Coronal Mass Ejections

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are associated with the eruption of magnetic flux ropes (MFRs), which usually appear as hot channels in active regions and coronal cavities in quiet-Sun regions. CMEs often exhibit a classical three-part structure in the lower corona when imaged with white-light coronagraphs, including a bright front, dark cavity, and bright core. For several decades, the bright core and dark cavity have been regarded as the erupted prominence and MFR, respectively. However, recent studies have clearly demonstrated that both the prominence and hot-channel MFR can be observed as the CME core. The current research presents a three-part CME resulting from the eruption of a coronal prominence cavity on 2010 October 7, with observations from two vantage perspectives, i.e., edge-on from the Earth and face-on from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO). Our observations illustrate two important results: (1) for the first time, the erupting coronal cavity is recorded as a channel-like structure in the extreme-ultraviolet passband, analogous to the hot-channel morphology, and is dubbed as the warm channel; and (2) both the prominence and warm-channel MFR (coronal cavity) in the extreme-ultraviolet passbands evolve into the CME core in the white-light coronagraphs of STEREO-A. The results suggest that we are working toward a unified explanation for the three-part structure of CMEs, in which both prominences and MFRs (hot or warm channels) are responsible for the bright core.

Analysis of the Evolution of a Multi-Ribbon Flare and Failed Filament Eruption

How filaments form and erupt are topics about which solar researchers have wondered for more than a century and they are still open to debate. We present observations of a filament formation, its failed eruption, and the associated flare (SOL2019-05-09T05:51) that occurred in active region (AR) 12740 using data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), the Solar-Terrestrial Relations Observatory A (STEREO-A), the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) and the Learmonth Solar Observatory (LSO) of the National Solar Observatory/Global Oscillation Network Group (NSO/GONG). AR 12740 was a decaying region formed by a very disperse following polarity and a strong leading spot, surrounded by a highly dynamic zone where moving magnetic features (MMFs) were seen constantly diverging from the spot. Our analysis indicates that the filament was formed by the convergence of fibrils at a location where magnetic flux cancellation was observed. Furthermore, we conclude that its destabilisation was also related to flux cancellation associated with the constant shuffling of the MMFs. A two-ribbon flare occurred associated with the filament eruption; however, because the large-scale magnetic configuration of the AR was quadrupolar, two additional flare ribbons developed far from the two main ones. We model the magnetic configuration of the AR using a force-free field approach at the AR scale size. This local model is complemented by a global potential-field source-surface one. Based on the local model, we propose a scenario in which the filament failed eruption and the flare are due to two reconnection processes, one occurring below the erupting filament, leading to the two-ribbon flare, and another one above it between the filament flux-rope configuration and the large-scale closed loops. Our computation of the reconnected magnetic flux added to the erupting flux rope, compared to that of the large-scale field overlying it, allows us to conclude that the latter was large enough to prevent the filament eruption. A similar conjecture can be drawn from the computation of the magnetic tension derived from the global field model.

Predictive Capabilities of Corotating Interaction Regions Using STEREO and Wind In‐Situ Observations

AbstractSolar wind stream interaction regions (SIRs) and corotating interaction regions (CIRs) can cause geomagnetic storms and change energetic particle environment, ionospheric composition on Earth. Therefore advanced warning of SIRs/CIRs is vital for mitigating the effect of space weather on critical infrastructures in modern society. Recently, several solar missions, for example, Vigil mission (Luntama et al., 2020) and Solar Ring mission (Wang et al., 2020), that can be served as a space weather monitor, have been proposed. To evaluate the capabilities of these future missions of predicting SIRs/CIRs, the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO‐B) spacecraft is used to investigate the correlation between SIRs/CIRs detected by STEREO‐B and Wind spacecraft. The correlation coefficients of solar wind velocity in SIRs/CIRs are significantly higher than that of magnetic field intensity or plasma density. It indicates that the velocity structure of solar wind is more persistent than magnetic field and ion density. By assuming the SIR/CIR structures are stable and ideal corotation, 58.9% of SIRs/CIRs in the STEREO‐B CIR catalog can be used to predict CIR arrival time in near‐Earth space. With increasing longitudinal and latitudinal separations between STEREO‐B and Wind, the percentage of accurately predicted CIRs decreases gradually from 100% to 20%. If the separation angle between STEREO‐B and Wind is within 30° in longitude and approximately ±5° in latitude, more than 93.2% of SIRs/CIRs can be accurately predicted several days in advance. This demonstrates that a spacecraft situated 30° trailing Earth in its orbit, can optimize our space weather‐predicting capabilities for the Earth and lessen the risk of missing or “false alarms” CIRs.

Prominence eruption observed in He II 304 Å up to >6 R⊙ by EUI/FSI aboard Solar Orbiter

Aims. We report observations of a unique, large prominence eruption that was observed in the He II 304 Å passband of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager/Full Sun Imager telescope aboard Solar Orbiter on 15–16 February 2022. Methods. Observations from several vantage points – Solar Orbiter, the Solar-Terrestrial Relations Observatory, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, and Earth-orbiting satellites – were used to measure the kinematics of the erupting prominence and the associated coronal mass ejection. Three-dimensional reconstruction was used to calculate the deprojected positions and speeds of different parts of the prominence. Observations in several passbands allowed us to analyse the radiative properties of the erupting prominence. Results. The leading parts of the erupting prominence and the leading edge of the corresponding coronal mass ejection propagate at speeds of around 1700 km s−1 and 2200 km s−1, respectively, while the trailing parts of the prominence are significantly slower (around 500 km s−1). Parts of the prominence are tracked up to heights of over 6 R⊙. The He II emission is probably produced via collisional excitation rather than scattering. Surprisingly, the brightness of a trailing feature increases with height. Conclusions. The reported prominence is the first observed in He II 304 Å emission at such a great height (above 6 R⊙).

Sun-as-a-star Spectroscopic Observations of the Line-of-sight Velocity of a Solar Eruption on 2021 October 28

The propagation direction and true velocity of a solar coronal mass ejection, which are among the most decisive factors for its geo-effectiveness, are difficult to determine through single-perspective imaging observations. Here we show that Sun-as-a-star spectroscopic observations, together with imaging observations, could allow us to solve this problem. Using observations of the Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory, we found clear blueshifted secondary emission components in extreme-ultraviolet spectral lines during a solar eruption on 2021 October 28. From simultaneous imaging observations, we found that the secondary components are caused by a mass ejection from the flare site. We estimated the line-of-sight (LOS) velocity of the ejecta from both the double Gaussian fitting method and the red-blue asymmetry analysis. The results of both methods agree well with each other, giving an average LOS velocity of the plasma of ∼423 km s−1. From the 304 Å image series taken by the Extreme ultraviolet Imager onboard the Solar Terrestrial Relation Observatory-A (STEREO-A) spacecraft, we estimated the plane-of-sky velocity from the STEREO-A viewpoint to be around 587 km s−1. The full velocity of the bulk motion of the ejecta was then computed by combining the imaging and spectroscopic observations, which turns out to be around 596 km s−1 with an angle of 42.°4 to the west of the Sun–Earth line and 16.°0 south to the ecliptic plane.