Secchi observations of the Sun's garden-hose density spiral

Christopher Eyles

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

55 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The SECCHI HI2 white-light imagers on the STEREO A and B spacecraft show systematically different proper motions of material moving outward from the Sun in front of high-speed solar wind streams from coronal holes. As a group of ejections enters the eastern (A) field of view, the elements at the rear of the group appear to overrun the elements at the front. (This is a projection effect and does not mean that the different elements actually merge.) The opposite is true in the western (B) field; the elements at the front of the group appear to run away from the elements at the rear. Elongation/ time maps show this effect as a characteristic grouping of the tracks of motion into convergent patterns in the east and divergent patterns in the west, consistent with ejections from a single longitude on the rotating Sun. Evidently, we are observing segments of the "garden-hose" spiral made visible when fast wind from a low-latitude coronal hole compresses blobs of streamer material being shed at the leading edge of the hole.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)L109-L112
JournalThe Astrophysical Journal
Volume674
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2008

Keywords

  • Sun : corona
  • Sun : magnetic fields
  • Sun : coronal mass ejections (CMEs)

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