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Magnetic Causes of Solar Coronal Mass Ejections: Dominance of the Free Magnetic Energy over the Magnetic Twist Alone
Author(s) -
D. A. Falconer,
Ronald L. Moore,
G. A. Gary
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the astrophysical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.376
H-Index - 489
eISSN - 1538-4357
pISSN - 0004-637X
DOI - 10.1086/503699
Subject(s) - magnetogram , physics , coronal mass ejection , magnetic field , astrophysics , magnetic energy , astronomy , magnetic flux , solar wind , magnetization , quantum mechanics
We examine the magnetic causes of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) by examining, along with the correlations of active-region magnetic measures with each other, the correlations of these measures with active-region CME productivity observed in time windows of a few days, either centered on or extending forward from the day of the magnetic measurement. The measures are from 36 vector magnetograms of bipolar active regions observed within 30 of disk center by the Marshal Space Flight Center (MSFC) vector magnetograph. From each magnetogram, we extract six whole-active-region measures twice, once from the original plane-of-the-sky magnetogram and again after deprojection of the magnetogram to disk center. Three of the measures are alternative measures of the total nonpotentiality of the active region, two are alternative measures of the overall twist in the active-region's magnetic field, and one is a measure of the magnetic size of the active region (the active region's magnetic flux content). From the deprojected magnetograms, we find evidence that (1) magnetic twist and magnetic size are separate but comparably strong causes of active-region CME productivity, and (2) the total free magnetic energy in anactiveregion'smagneticfieldisastrongerdeterminantoftheactiveregion'sCMEproductivitythanisthefield's overall twist (or helicity) alone. From comparison of results from the non-deprojected magnetograms with cor- respondingresultsfromthedeprojectedmagnetograms,wefindevidencethat(forpredictionofactive-regionCME productivity and for further studies of active-region magnetic size as a cause of CMEs), for active regions within 30 of disk center, active-region total nonpotentiality and flux content can be adequately measured from line-of-

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