HR: 1330h
AN: SH53A-06 [Abstracts]
TI: Three-dimensional velocity field of an accelerating CME
AU: * Chen, J
EM: chen@ppd.nrl.navy.mil
AF: Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC,
AB:
Fast coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are correlated with production of solar energetic particles (SEPs). One mechanism is
acceleration by shocks produced by rapidly expanding CMEs, with the resulting SEPs streaming toward the earth along the field lines connecting the sun and the earth. It is therefore important to determine the 3-D velocity field of a CME, which is
observed projected onto the 2-D plane of the sky. In this work, the 3-D velocity field of the leading edge of a model
flux-rope CME is calculated as a function of the CME source location and flux-rope orientation with respect to the observer. In particular, the velocity
component parallel to the Archimedean spiral magnetic field line originating from W60 deg longitude in the solar equator is
obtained as a function time for the model CME, expressed in terms of the Alfven Mach number based on an empirical model of
magnetic field. A key result that can be tested with STEREO observations is the relationship between the source location and 3-D geometry of a CME near the sun and SEPs detected at the earth.
Work supported by ONR and NASA
DE: 7513 Coronal mass ejections
DE: 7514 Energetic particles (2114)
DE: 7524 Magnetic fields
SC: SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics [SH]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly