E. Hildner

The association of coronal mass ejection transients with other forms of solar activity

Coronal mass ejection transients observed with the white light coronagraph on Skylab are found to be associated with several other forms of solar activity. There is a strong correlation between such mass ejection transients and chromospheric Hα activity, with three-quarters of the transients apparently originating in or near active regions. We infer that 40% of transients are associated with flares, 50% are associated with eruptive prominences solely (without flares), and more than 70% are associated with eruptive prominences or filament disappearances (with or without flares). Nine of ten flares which displayed apparent mass ejections of Hα-emitting material from the flare site could be associated with coronal transients. Within each class of activity, the more energetic events are more likely to be associated with an observable mass ejection.

The speeds of coronal mass ejection events

The outward speeds of mass ejection events observed with the white light coronagraph experiment on Skylab varied over a range extending from less than 100 km s−1 to greater than 1200 km s−1. For all events the average speed within the field of view of the experiment (1.75 to 6 solar radii) was 470 km s−1. Typically, flare associated events (Importance 1 or greater) traveled faster (775 km s−1) than events associated with eruptive prominences (330 km s−1); no flare associated event had a speed less than 360 km s−1, and only one eruptive prominence associated event had a speed greater than 600 km s−1. Speeds versus height profiles for a limited number of events indicate that the leading edges of the ejecta move outward with constant or increasing speeds.Metric wavelength type II and IV radio bursts are associated only with events moving faster than about 400 km s−1; all but two events moving faster than 500 km −1 produced either a type II or IV radio burst or both. This suggests that the characteristic speed with which MHD signals propagate in the lower (1.1 to 3 solar radii) corona, where metric wavelength bursts are generated, is about 400 to 500 km s−1. The fact that the fastest mass ejection events are almost always associated with flares and with metric wavelength type II and IV radio bursts explains why major shock wave disturbances in the solar wind at 1 AU are most often associated with these forms of solar activity rather than with eruptive prominences.

The High Altitude Observatory Coronagraph/Polarimeter on the Solar Maximum Mission

The High Altitude Observatory Coronagraph/Polarimeter, to be flown on the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations Solar Maximum Mission satellite, is designed to produce images of the solar corona in seven wavelength bands in the visible spectral range. The spectral bands have been chosen to specifically exclude or include ‘chromospheric’ spectral lines, so as to allow discrimination between ejecta at high (coronal) and low (chromospheric) temperatures, respectively. In addition, the instrument features spectral filters designed to permit an accurate color separation of the F and K coronal components, and a narrow band (5.5 Å) filter to observe the radiance and polarization of the Fe xiv 5303 Å line. The effective system resolution is better than 10 arc sec and the instrument images a selected quadrant (or smaller field) on an SEC vidicon detector. The total height range that may be recorded encompasses 1.6 to more than 6.0R⊙ (from Sun center). The instrument is pointed independently of the SMM spacecraft, and its functions are controlled through the use of a program resident within the onboard spacecraft computer. Major experimental goals include: (a) Observation of the role of the corona in the flare process and of the ejecta from the flare site and the overlying corona; (b) the study of the direction of magnetic fields in stable coronal forms, and, perhaps, ejecta; and (c) examination of the evolution of the solar corona near the period of solar maximum activity.

The formation of solar quiescent prominences by condensation

We model the formation of solar quiescent prominences by solving numerically the non-linear, time-dependent, magnetohydrodynamic equations governing the condensation of the corona. A two-dimensional geometry is used. Gravitational and magnetic fields are included, but thermal conduction is neglected. The coronal fluid is assumed to cool by radiation and to be heated by the dissipation of mechanical energy carried by shock waves. A small, isobaric perturbation of the initial thermal and mechanical equilibrium is introduced and the fluid is allowed to relax. Because the corona with the given energy sources is thermally unstable, cooling and condensation result.When magnetic and gravitational fields are absent, condensation occurs isotropically with a strongly time-dependent growth rate, and achieves a density 18 times the initial density in 3.5 × 104 s. The rapidity of condensation is limited by hydrodynamical considerations, in contrast to the treatment of Raju (1968). When both magnetic and gravitational fields are included, the rate of condensation is inhibited and denser material falls.We conclude that: (1) condensation of coronal material due to thermal instability is possible if thermal conduction is inhibited; (2) hydrodynamical processes determine, in large part, the rate of condensation; (3) condensation can occur on a time scale compatible with the observed times of formation of quiescent prominences.

Expansion of an X-ray coronal arch into the outer corona

An asymmetric, expanding arch, photographed in the inner corona with an X-ray telescope on 13 August, 1973, is identified as the source of the mass ejected in a white light transient in the outer corona. The morphology, angular position, estimated mass and apparent rate of upward acceleration of the lower coronal arch are similar to those of the arch seen passing through the outer corona. The mass of material removed from the lower corona is estimated at 2 × 1015 g, and the upward movement is consistent with a constant acceleration of 12.5 m s−2 between 1.3 and 5 R⊙.

Prompt solar proton events and coronal mass ejections

We have used data from the HAO white light coronagraph and AS&E X-ray telescope on Skylab to investigate the coronal manifestations of 18 prompt solar proton events observed with the GSFC detectors on the IMP-7 spacecraft during the Skylab period. We find evidence that a mass ejection event is a necessary condition for the occurrence of a prompt proton event. Mass ejection events can be observed directly in the white light coronagraph when they occur near the limb and inferred from the presence of a long decay X-ray event when they occur on the disk. We suggest that: (1) the occurrence of mass ejection events facilitates the escape of protons - whether accelerated at low or high altitudes - to the interplanetary medium; and (2) there may exist a proton acceleration region above or around the outward moving ejecta far above the flare site.

Frequency of coronal transients and solar activity

The High Altitude Observatorys white light coronagraph aboard Skylab observed some 110 coronal transients - rapid changes in appearance of the corona - during its 227 days of operation. The longitudes of the origins of these transients were not distributed uniformly around the solar surface (51 of the 100 events observed in seven solar rotations arose from a single quadrant of longitude). Further, the frequency of transient production from each segment of the solar surface was well correlated with the sunspot number and Ca ii plage (area × brightness) index in the segment, rotation by rotation. This correlation implies that transients occur more often above strong photospheric and chromospheric magnetic fields, that is, in regions where the coronal magnetic field is stronger and, perhaps, more variable. This pattern of occurrence is consistent with our belief that the forces propelling transient material outward are, primarily, magnetic. A quantitative relation between transient production from an area and the Zürich sunspot number appropriate to that area is derived, and we speculate that the relation is independent of phase in the solar activity cycle. If true, the Sun may give rise to as many as 100 white light coronal transients per month at solar cycle maximum.

Direct observations of a flare related coronal and solar wind disturbance

Numerous mass ejections from the Sun have been detected with orbiting coronagraphs. Here for the first time we document and discuss the direct association of a coronagraph observed mass ejection, which followed a 2B flare, with a large interplanetary shock wave disturbance observed at 1 AU. Estimates of the mass (2.4 × 1016 g) and energy content (1.1 × 1032 erg) of the coronal disturbance are in reasonably good agreement with estimates of the mass and energy content of the solar wind disturbance at 1 AU. The energy estimates as well as the transit time of the disturbance are also in good agreement with numerical models of shock wave propagation in the solar wind.

Coronal mass-ejections-kinematics of the 19 December 1973 event

An eruptive prominence and coronal transient of 19 December, 1973 comprised one of the best-observed coronal mass ejection events during the skylab period (May, 1973–January, 1974). EUV observations show that the pre-eruptive quiescent prominence was (at 8000 K) not appreciably hotter than other quiescent prominences, but EUV radiation from it and its prominence-corona interface was unusually faint. The prominence material was distributed in helical threads which decreased in pitch angle during the early phases of eruption. No region of the prominence was markedly different from any other just prior to and during the eruption. For the first time, the temperature and density of rising prominence material were determined at great heights in the corona. At 3R⊙, the prominence material was still confined in threads whose temperature and total hydrogen density were 2 × 104 K and ∼1.5 × 109 cm−3, respectively. Shortly after this observation (∼ 7hr after the start of the eruption), the prominence material expanded dramatically. A small portion (≲1%) of the prominence material was observed draining downward near the solar surface late in the event, and we infer that only a small fraction (∼10%) of the pre-eruptive prominence mass was expelled from the Sun. The remainder of the prominence apparently lay outside the instruments fields of view. The bulk of the material expelled did not originate in the prominence. Both coronal and prominence material accelerated outward during the period of observations. A pre-existing streamer was disrupted by the outflowing material.

The sources of material comprising a mass ejection coronal transient

The origin of the material which is ejected during a white light coronal transient has not been determined heretofore. Study of a disturbance on 26 and 27 August 1973, during which a slowly ascending prominence and a more rapid accompanying coronal transient were simultaneously observed, helps to resolve this question. Prominence images obtained in Hα 6563 Å and in He II 304 Å are nearly identical. The mass ejection transient observed in white light (3700–7000 Å) appeared to be a loop about 1 R⊙ higher than the top of the ascending prominence; it accelerated away from the prominence below it. These observations imply: (1) the bulk of the ejected material did not originate in the ascending prominence; (2) therefore, most of the material must have come from the low corona above the prominence, (and was at coronal temperatures during its outward passage); and (3) the total event - ascending prominence accompanied by coronal mass ejection - was far larger, more energetic, and longer lasting than would be inferred from the prominence observations alone.The transient of 26–27 August was slow and of atypical shape compared to other mass ejection transients, but we believe that these three conclusions apply to most, if not all, of the more than 60 loop-shaped coronal transients observed by the High Altitude Observatorys coronagraph during the nine-month flight of Skylab.