Open AccessPosteruptive phenomena in coronal mass ejections and substorms: Indicators of a universal process?
Author(s) -
Reeves K. K.,
Guild T. B.,
Hughes W. J.,
Korreck K. E.,
Lin J.,
Raymond J.,
Savage S.,
Schwadron N. A.,
Spence H. E.,
Webb D. F.,
Wiltberger M.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2008ja013049
Subject(s) - physics , coronal mass ejection , plasmoid , magnetosphere , corona (planetary geology) , astrophysics , solar flare , magnetic reconnection , substorm , nanoflares , magnetohydrodynamics , plasma , geophysics , computational physics , solar wind , astrobiology , quantum mechanics , venus
We examine phenomena associated with eruptions in the two different regimes of the solar corona and the terrestrial magnetosphere. We find striking similarities between the speeds of shrinking magnetic field lines in the corona and dipolarization fronts traversing the magnetosphere. We also examine the similarities between supra‐arcade downflows observed during solar flares and bursty bulk flows seen in the magnetotail and find that these phenomena have remarkably similar speeds, velocity profiles, and size scales. Thus we show manifest similarities in the magnetic reconfiguration in response to the ejection of coronal mass ejections in the corona and the ejection of plasmoids in the magnetotail. The subsequent return of loops to a quasi‐potential state in the corona and field dipolarization in the magnetotail are physical analogs and trigger similar phenomena such as downflows, which provides key insights into the underlying drivers of the plasma dynamics.