A Challenging Solar Eruptive Event of 18 November 2003 and the Causes of the 20 November Geomagnetic Superstorm. I. Unusual History of an Eruptive Filament

Abstract

This is the first of four companion papers, which analyze a complex eruptive event of 18 November 2003 in AR 10501 and the causes of the largest Solar Cycle 23 geomagnetic storm on 20 November 2003. Analysis of a complete data set, not considered before, reveals a chain of eruptions to which hard X-ray and microwave bursts responded. A filament in AR 10501 was not a passive part of a larger flux rope, as usually considered. The filament erupted and gave origin to a CME. The chain of events was as follows: i) an eruption at 07:29 accompanied by a not reported M1.2 class flare associated with the onset of a first southeastern CME1, which is not responsible for the superstorm; ii) a confined eruption at 07:41 (M3.2 flare) that destabilized the filament; iii) the filament acceleration (07:56); iv) the bifurcation of the eruptive filament that transformed into a large cloud; v) an M3.9 flare in AR 10501 associated to this transformation. The transformation of the filament could be due to its interaction with the magnetic field in the neighborhood of a null point, located at a height of about 100 Mm above the complex formed by ARs 10501, 10503, and their environment. The CORONAS-F/SPIRIT telescope observed the cloud in 304 A as a large Y-shaped darkening, which moved from the bifurcation region to the limb. The masses and kinematics of the cloud and the filament were similar. Remnants of the filament were not observed in the second southwestern CME2, previously regarded as a source of the 20 November superstorm. These facts do not support a simple scenario, in which the interplanetary magnetic cloud is considered as a flux rope formed from a structure initially associated with the pre-eruption filament in AR 10501. Observations suggest a possible additional eruption above the bifurcation region close to solar disk center between 08:07 and 08:17 that could be the source of the superstorm.

34 pages, 17 figures. For associated movie files, see http://ru.iszf.irk.ru/~grechnev/papers/2003-11-18_I/ The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11207-013-0316-6

References in corpus (2)

• Absorption Phenomena and a Probable Blast Wave in the 13 July 2004 Eruptive Event
• Source region of the 2003 November 18 CME that led to the strongest magnetic storm of cycle 23

Cited by in corpus (12)

• A Challenging Solar Eruptive Event of 18 November 2003 and the Causes of the 20 November Geomagnetic Superstorm. IV. Unusual Magnetic Cloud and Overall Scenario
• A Tiny Eruptive Filament as a Flux-Rope Progenitor and Driver of a Large-Scale CME and Wave
• Multi-instrument view on solar eruptive events observed with the Siberian Radioheliograph: From detection of small jets up to development of a shock wave and CME
• Responsibility of a Filament Eruption for the Initiation of a Flare, CME, and Blast Wave, and its Possible Transformation into a Bow Shock
• Radio, Hard X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Emissions Associated with a Far-Side Solar Event
• A Challenging Solar Eruptive Event of 18 November 2003 and the Causes of the 20 November Geomagnetic Superstorm. II. CMEs, Shock Waves, and Drifting Radio Bursts
• An Updated View of Solar Eruptive Flares and Development of Shocks and CMEs: History of the 2006 December 13 GLE-Productive Extreme Event
• Derivations and Observations of Prominence Bulk Motions and Mass
• A Challenging Solar Eruptive Event of 18 November 2003 and the Causes of the 20 November Geomagnetic Superstorm. III. Catastrophe of the Eruptive Filament at a Magnetic Null Point and Formation of an Opposite-Handedness CME
• Filament Shape Versus Coronal Potential Magnetic Field Structure
• Microwave Negative Bursts as Indications of Reconnection between Eruptive Filaments and Large-Scale Coronal Magnetic Environment
• Twin Null-Point-Associated Major Eruptive Three-Ribbon Flares with Unusual Microwave Spectra