Open AccessPartially ejected flux ropes: Implications for interplanetary coronal mass ejections
Author(s) -
Gibson S. E.,
Fan Y.
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 - 10.1029/2008ja013151
Subject(s) - coronal mass ejection , physics , magnetic helicity , interplanetary spaceflight , magnetic cloud , solar wind , rope , astrophysics , solar flare , magnetohydrodynamics , coronal cloud , geophysics , magnetic field , structural engineering , quantum mechanics , engineering
Connecting interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) to their solar pre‐eruption source requires a clear understanding of how that source may have evolved during eruption. Gibson and Fan (2006a) have presented a three‐dimensional numerical magnetohydrodynamic simulation of a CME, which showed how, in the course of eruption, a coronal flux rope may writhe and reconnect both internally and with surrounding fields in a manner that leads to a partial ejection of only part of the rope as a CME. In this paper, we will explicitly describe how the evolution during eruption found in that simulation leads to alterations of the magnetic connectivity, helicity, orientation, and topology of the ejected portion of the rope so that it differs significantly from that of the pre‐eruption rope. Moreover, because a significant part of the magnetic helicity remains behind in the lower portion of the rope that survives the eruption, the region is likely to experience further eruptions. These changes would complicate how ICMEs embedded in the solar wind relate to their solar source. In particular, the location and evolution of transient coronal holes, topology of magnetic clouds (“tethered spheromak”), and likelihood of interacting ICMEs would differ significantly from what would be predicted for a CME which did not undergo writhing and partial ejection during eruption.