Solar Physics

, Volume 256, Issue 1–2, pp 3–40 | Cite as

Solar Flare and CME Observations with STEREO/EUVI

  • M. J. Aschwanden
  • J. P. Wuelser
  • N. V. Nitta
  • J. R. Lemen
STEREO SCIENCE RESULTS AT SOLAR MINIMUM
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

STEREO/EUVI observed 185 flare events (detected above the GOES class C1 level or at > 25 keV with RHESSI) during the first two years of the mission (December 2006 – November 2008), while coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were reported in about a third of these events. We compile a comprehensive catalog of these EUVI-observed events, containing the peak fluxes in soft X rays, hard X rays, and EUV, as well as a classification and statistics of prominent EUV features: 79% show impulsive EUV emission (coincident with hard X rays), 73% show delayed EUV emission from postflare loops and arcades, 24% represent occulted flares, 17% exhibit EUV dimming, 5% show loop oscillations or propagating waves, and at least 3% show erupting filaments. We analyze an example of each EUV feature by stereoscopic modeling of its 3D geometry. We find that EUV emission can be dominated by impulsive emission from a heated, highly sheared, noneruptive filament, in addition to the more common impulsive EUV emission from flare ribbons or the delayed postflare EUV emission that results from cooling of the soft-X-ray-emitting flare loops. Occulted flares allow us to determine CME-related coronal dimming uncontaminated from flare-related EUV emission. From modeling the time evolution of EUV dimming we can accurately quantify the initial expansion of CMEs and determine their masses. Further, we find evidence that coronal loop oscillations are excited by the rapid initial expansion of CMEs. These examples demonstrate that stereoscopic EUV data provide powerful new methods to model the 3D aspects in the hydrodynamics of flares and kinematics of CMEs.

Keywords

Solar flares Coronal mass ejections EUV Stereoscopy 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Amari, T., Luciani, J.F., Mikic, Z., Linker, J.A.: 2000, Astrophys. J. 529, L49. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  2. Amari, T., Luciani, J.F., Aly, J.J., Mikic, Z., Linker, J.A.: 2003a, Astrophys. J. 585, 1073. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  3. Amari, T., Luciani, J.F., Aly, J.J., Mikic, Z., Linker, J.A.: 2003b, Astrophys. J. 595, 1231. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  4. Aschwanden, M.J.: 2004, Physics of the Solar Corona – An Introduction, Praxis/Springer, Chichester/New York. Google Scholar
  5. Aschwanden, M.J.: 2009a. In: Cheung, M., Lites, B., Magara, T., Mariska, J., Reeves, K. (eds.), Second Hinode Science Meeting: Beyond Discovery – Toward Understanding, Astron. Soc. Pac., San Francisco, in press. Google Scholar
  6. Aschwanden, M.J.: 2009b, Space Sci. Rev. in press. Google Scholar
  7. Aschwanden, M.J., Alexander, D.: 2001, Solar Phys. 204, 91. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  8. Aschwanden, M.J., Terradas, J.: 2008, Astrophys. J. 686, L127. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  9. Aschwanden, M.J., Fletcher, L., Schrijver, C., Alexander, D.: 1999, Astrophys. J. 520, 880. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  10. Aschwanden, M.J., Wuelser, J.P., Nitta, N., Lemen, J.: 2008a, Astrophys. J. 679, 827. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  11. Aschwanden, M.J., Nitta, N.V., Wuelser, J.P., Lemen, J.R.: 2008b, Astrophys. J. 680, 1477. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  12. Aschwanden, M.J., Wuelser, J.P., Nitta, N., Lemen, J., Sandman, A.: 2009a, Astrophys. J. 695, 12. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  13. Aschwanden, M.J., Nitta, N.V., Wuelser, J.P., Lemen, J.R., Sandman, A., Vourlidas, A., Colaninno, R.C.: 2009b, Astrophys. J. submitted. Google Scholar
  14. Attrill, G.D.R., Harra, L.K., van Driel-Gesztelyi, L., Demoulin, P., Wuelser, J.P.: 2007, Astron. Nachr. 328/8, 760. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  15. Berger, T.E., DePontieu, B., Fletcher, L., Schrijver, C.J., Tarbell, T.D., Title, A.M.: 1999, Solar Phys. 190, 409. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  16. Bewsher, D., Harrison, R.A., Brown, D.S.: 2008, Astron. Astrophys. 478, 897. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  17. Billings, D.E.: 1966, A Guide to the Solar Corona, Academic Press, New York. Google Scholar
  18. Chen, J.: 1997, Astrophys. J. 409, L191. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  19. Chen, P.F., Shibata, K.: 2000, Astrophys. J. 545, 524. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  20. Chen, J., Santori, R.A., Krall, J., Howard, R.A., Duffin, R., Moses, J.D., Brueckner, G.E., Darnell, J.A., Burkepile, J.T.: 2000, Astrophys. J. 533, 481. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  21. Chifor, C., Isobe, H., Mason, H.E., Hannah, I.G., Young, P.R., Del Zanna, G., Krucker, S., Ichimoto, K., Katsukawa, Y., Yokoyama, T.: 2008, Astron. Astrophys. 491, 279. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  22. DeRosa, M.L., Schrijver, C.J., Barnes, G., Leka, K.D., Lites, B.W., Aschwanden, M.J., McTiernan, J.M., Regnier, S., Thalmann, J., Valori, G. et al.: 2009, Astrophys. J. in press. arXiv:0902.1007.
  23. Fan, Y., Gibson, S.E.: 2003, Astrophys. J. 589, L105. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  24. Fan, Y., Gibson, S.E.: 2004, Astrophys. J. 609, 1123. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  25. Feng, L., Inhester, B., Solanki, S.K., Wiegelmann, T., Podlipnik, B., Howard, R.A., Wuelser, J.P.: 2007, Astrophys. J. 671, L205. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  26. Howard, R.A., et al.: 2008, Space Sci. Rev. 136, 67. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  27. Gissot, S.F., Hochedez, J.F., Chainais, P., Antoine, J.P.: 2008, Solar Phys. doi: 10.1007/s11207-008-9270-0. Google Scholar
  28. Kliem, B., Titov, V.S., Török, T.: 2004, Astron. Astrophys. 413, L23. MATHCrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  29. Klimchuk, J.A., Patsourakos, S., Cargill, P.J.: 2008, Astrophys. J. 682, 1351. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  30. Krall, J., Chen, J., Santoro, R.: 2000, Astrophys. J. 539, 964. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  31. Krucker, S., Lin, R.P.: 2008, Astrophys. J. 673, 1181. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  32. Illing, R.M.E., Hundhausen, A.J.: 1986, J. Geophys. Res. 91, 10951. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  33. Li, Y., Lynch, B.J., Stenborg, G., Luhmann, J.G., Huttunen, K.E.J., Welsch, B.T., Liewer, P.C., Vourlidas, A.: 2008, Astrophys. J. 681, L37. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  34. Lin, R.P., et al.: 2002, Solar Phys. 210, 3. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  35. Linker, J.A., Mikic, Z.: 1995, Astrophys. J. 438, L45. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  36. Long, D.M., Gallagher, P.T., McAteer, R.T.J., Bloomfield, D.S.: 2008, Astrophys. J. 680, L81. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  37. Mikic, Z., Linker, J.A.: 1994, Astrophys. J. 430, 898. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  38. Nakariakov, V.M., Ofman, L., DeLuca, E., Roberts, B., Davila, J.M.: 1999, Science 285, 862. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  39. Noglik, J.B., Walsh, R.W., Maclean, R.C.: 2008, Astrophys. J. submitted. arXiv:0807.4487.
  40. Patsourakos, S., Pariat, E., Vourlidas, A., Antiochos, S.K., Wuelser, J.P.: 2008, Astrophys. J. 680, L73. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  41. Raftery, C.L., Gallagher, P.T., Milligan, R.O., Klimchuk, J.A.: 2009, Astron. Astrophys. 494, 1127. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  42. Raouafi, N.E., Petrie, G.J.D., Norton, A.A., Henney, C.J., Solanki, S.K.: 2008, Astrophys. J. 682, L137. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  43. Sandman, A., Aschwanden, M.J., Wuelser, J.P., DeRosa, J., Alexander, D.: 2009, Solar Phys. in press. Google Scholar
  44. Schrijver, C.J., Aschwanden, M.J., Title, A.: 2002, Solar Phys. 206, 69. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  45. Schrijver, C.J., Title, A.M., Berger, T.E., Fletcher, L., Hurlburt, N.E., Nightingale, R.W., Shine, R.A., Tarbell, T.D., Wolfson, J., Golub, L., et al.: 1999, Solar Phys. 187, 261. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  46. Steinolfson, R.S., Hundhausen, A.J.: 1988, J. Geophys. Res. 93, 14269. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  47. Török, T., Kliem, B.: 2003, Astron. Astrophys. 406, 1043. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  48. Török, T., Kliem, B., Titov, V.S.: 2003, Astron. Astrophys. 413, L27. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  49. Veronig, A.M., Temmer, M., Vrsnak, B.: 2008, Astrophys. J. 681, L113. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  50. Verwichte, E., VanDoorsselaere, T., Aschwanden, M.J., Foullon, C., Nakariakov, V.M.: 2009, Astrophys. J. in press. Google Scholar
  51. Vourlidas, A., Howard, R.A.: 2008, Astrophys. J. 642, 1216. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  52. Wu, S.T., Guo, W.P.: 1997, Adv. Space Res. 20/12, 2313. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  53. Wuelser, J.P., Lemen, J.R., Tarbell, T.D., Wolfson, C.J., Cannon, J.C., Carpenter, B.A., Duncan, D.W., Gradwohl, G.S., Meyer, S.B., Moore, A.S., et al.: 2004, Proc. SPIE 5171, 111. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  54. Yeh, T., Wu, S.T.: 1991, Solar Phys. 132, 335. CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009

Authors and Affiliations

  • M. J. Aschwanden
    • 1
  • J. P. Wuelser
    • 1
  • N. V. Nitta
    • 1
  • J. R. Lemen
    • 1
  1. 1.Solar & Astrophysics LaboratoryLockheed Martin Advanced Technology CenterPalo AltoUSA

Personalised recommendations