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Mass-Loss Evolution in the EUV Low Corona from SDO/AIA Data

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Abstract

We carry out an analysis of the mass that is evacuated from three coronal dimming regions observed by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. The three events are unambiguously identified with white-light coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that are associated in turn with surface activity of diverse nature: an impulsive (M-class) flare, a weak (B-class) flare, and a filament eruption without a flare. The use of three AIA coronal passbands allows applying a differential emission measure technique to define the dimming regions and identify their evacuated mass through the analysis of the electronic density depletion associated with the eruptions. The temporal evolution of the mass loss from the three dimmings can be approximated by an exponential equation followed by a linear fit. We determine the mass of the associated CMEs from COR2 data. The results show that the evacuated masses from the low corona represent a considerable amount of the CME mass. We also find that plasma is still being evacuated from the low corona at the time when the CMEs reach the COR2 field of view. The temporal evolution of the angular width of the CMEs, of the dimming regions in the low corona, and of the flux registered by GOES in soft X-rays are all in close relation with the behavior of mass evacuation from the low corona. We discuss the implications of our findings toward a better understanding of the temporal evolution of several parameters associated with the analyzed dimmings and CMEs.

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Acknowledgements

FML and FAN are fellows of CONICET. HC and AMV are members of the Carrera del Investigador Científico (CONICET). FML, HC, and LAB appreciate support from project UTN UTI1744. The authors thank the anonymous referee for very constructive comments and suggestions, as well as Marc L. DeRosa and Barbara Thompson for helpful discussions. The authors acknowledge the use of data from the SDO/AIA and STEREO/SECCHI projects. The AIA data used here are courtesy of SDO (NASA) and the AIA consortium. The SECCHI data are courtesy of STEREO and the SECCHI consortium.

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  1. Laura A. Balmaceda

    Present address: George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciencias Astronómicas, de la Tierra y del Espacio (ICATE), CONICET, San Juan, Argentina

    Fernando M. López & Laura A. Balmaceda

  2. Facultad Regional Mendoza—Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, CEDS, CONICET, Mendoza, Argentina

    M. Hebe Cremades

  3. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio (IAFE), CONICET-UBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Federico A. Nuevo & Alberto M. Vásquez

  4. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil

    Laura A. Balmaceda

  5. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología, Ingeniería Ambiental, Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero (UNTREF), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Alberto M. Vásquez

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  1. Fernando M. López
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Correspondence to Fernando M. López.

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López, F.M., Hebe Cremades, M., Nuevo, F.A. et al. Mass-Loss Evolution in the EUV Low Corona from SDO/AIA Data. Sol Phys 292, 6 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-016-1031-x

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