Understanding the Complex Morphology of a Coronal Mass Ejection: Multiview Analysis and Numerical Modeling

Although all coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that propagate into the heliosphere should contain a magnetic flux rope (MFR) component, the majority do not exhibit the expected white-light MFR morphology of a leading edge plus a cavity. This different appearance could be the result of distortion of the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cecilia Mac Cormack, Abril Sahade, Angelos Vourlidas, Phillip Hess, Robin Colaninno, Teresa Nieves-Chinchilla
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:The Astrophysical Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ade311
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Although all coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that propagate into the heliosphere should contain a magnetic flux rope (MFR) component, the majority do not exhibit the expected white-light MFR morphology of a leading edge plus a cavity. This different appearance could be the result of distortion of the internal magnetic structure, merging with other structures, or simply projection effects. These factors complicate the interpretation of CMEs. This complexity is exemplified by a CME observed on 2022 March 28. The event originated from a single eruption, evolving as a textbook CME in the low corona but appearing as a complex two-MFR structure in the white-light observations. Why? To answer this question, we performed a multiview data and modeling analysis to describe the CME coronal evolution. The thermodynamic magnetohydrodynamic model, CORHEL-CME, helps reveal the magnetic configuration of this CME and also reveals that the ambient field plays a crucial role in shaping the complex structure of the CME during early evolution. Our research underscores the importance of integrating multiview observations with physics-based models to gain a deeper insight into the development of complex CMEs.
ISSN:1538-4357