On-disc Observations of Flux Rope Formation Prior to its Eruption

Abstract

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are one of the primary manifestations of solar activity and can drive severe space weather effects. Therefore, it is vital to work towards being able to predict their occurrence. However, many aspects of CME formation and eruption remain unclear, including whether magnetic flux ropes are present before the onset of eruption and the key mechanisms that cause CMEs to occur. In this work, the pre-eruptive coronal configuration of an active region that produced an interplanetary CME with a clear magnetic flux rope structure at 1 AU is studied. A forward-S sigmoid appears in extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) data two hours before the onset of the eruption (SOL2012-06-14), which is interpreted as a signature of a right-handed flux rope that formed prior to the eruption. Flare ribbons and EUV dimmings are used to infer the locations of the flux rope footpoints. These locations, together with observations of the global magnetic flux distribution, indicate that an interaction between newly emerged magnetic flux and pre-existing sunspot field in the days prior to the eruption may have enabled the coronal flux rope to form via tether-cutting-like reconnection. Composition analysis suggests that the flux rope had a coronal plasma composition, supporting our interpretation that the flux rope formed via magnetic reconnection in the corona. Once formed, the flux rope remained stable for 2 hours before erupting as a CME.

References in corpus (12)

• Torus instability
• The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) Vector Magnetic Field Pipeline: SHARPs -- Space-weather HMI Active Region Patches
• A Review of Solar Type III Radio Bursts
• Observation of An Evolving Magnetic Flux Rope Prior To and During A Solar Eruption
• Formation of a Double-decker Magnetic Flux Rope in the Sigmoidal Solar Active Region 11520
• Flux Rope Formation Preceding Coronal Mass Ejection Onset
• The Counter-kink Rotation of a Non-Hale Active Region
• Determining the Intrinsic CME Flux Rope Type Using Remote-sensing Solar Disk Observations
• Relationship between EIT Post Eruption Arcades, Coronal Mass Ejections, Coronal Neutral Line and Magnetic Clouds
• FIP Bias Evolution in a Decaying Active Region
• Tracking Solar Active Region Outflow Plasma from its Source to the near-Earth Environment
• Prediction of Geomagnetic Storm Strength from Inner Heliospheric In Situ Observations

Cited by in corpus (34)

• The origin, early evolution and predictability of solar eruptions
• Successive X-class flares and coronal mass ejections driven by shearing motion and sunspot rotation in active region NOAA 12673
• Determining the Intrinsic CME Flux Rope Type Using Remote-sensing Solar Disk Observations
• Forward modeling of coronal mass ejection flux ropes in the inner heliosphere with 3DCORE
• Coronal Magnetic Structure of Earthbound CMEs and In situ Comparison
• An Observationally-Constrained Model of a Flux Rope that Formed in the Solar Corona
• Evolution of A Magnetic Flux Rope toward Eruption
• Understanding the Role of Mass-Unloading in Filament Eruptions
• The eruption of a small-scale emerging flux rope as the driver of an M-class flare and a coronal mass ejection
• Coronal Elemental Abundances in Solar Emerging Flux Regions
• Non-equilibrium Flux Rope Formation by Confined Flares Preceding a Solar Coronal Mass Ejection
• Evaluation of CME Arrival Prediction Using Ensemble Modeling Based on Heliospheric Imaging Observations
• Modelling the Effect of Mass-Draining on Prominence Eruptions
• Average motion of emerging solar active region polarities II: Joy's law
• When do solar erupting hot magnetic flux ropes form?
• Formation of a Magnetic Flux Rope in the Early Emergence Phase of NOAA Active Region 12673
• Stealth Coronal Mass Ejections from Active Regions
• Eruption of a Magnetic Flux Rope in a Comprehensive Radiative Magnetohydrodynamic Simulation of flare-productive active regions
• Three-dimensional reconstruction of multiple particle acceleration regions during a coronal mass ejection
• A new trigger mechanism for coronal mass ejections: the role of confined flares and photospheric motions in the formation of hot flux ropes
• Investigating pre-eruptive magnetic properties at the footprints of erupting magnetic flux ropes
• Eruptions and Flaring Activity in Emerging Quadrupolar Regions
• Evolution of the critical torus instability height and CME likelihood in solar active regions
• Writhed Analytical Magnetic Flux Rope Model
• Evolution of Plasma Composition in an Eruptive Flux Rope
• The Magnetic Environment of a Stealth Coronal Mass Ejection
• The configuration and failed eruption of a complex magnetic flux rope above a δ sunspot region
• Thermodynamic evolution of a sigmoidal active region with associated flares
• A Transient Coronal Sigmoid in Active Region NOAA 11909: Build-up Phase, M-class Eruptive Flare, and Associated Fast Coronal Mass Ejection
• Validation and interpretation of three-dimensional configuration of a magnetic cloud flux rope
• Spatially Resolved Moving Radio Burst in Association with an EUV Wave
• Coronal dimmings from active region 13664 during the May 2024 solar energetic events
• Estimating the total energy content in escaping accelerated solar electron beams
• How does the critical torus instability height vary with the solar cycle?