A Statistical Study of the Plasma and Composition Distribution inside Magnetic Clouds: 1998-2011

A comprehensive analysis of plasma and composition characteristics inside magnetic clouds (MCs) observed by the Advanced Composition Explorer spacecraft from 1998 February to 2011 August is presented. The results show that MCs have specific interior structures, and MCs of different speeds show diffe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2020-04, Vol.893 (2), p.136
Main Authors: Huang, Jin, Liu, Yu, Feng, Hengqiang, Zhao, Ake, Abidin, Z. Z., Shen, Yuandeng, Oloketuyi, Jacob
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astrophysics
Atomic properties
Clouds
Composition
Coronal mass ejection
Fluctuations
Flux
High energy electrons
Interplanetary physics
Iron
Magnesium
Magnetic clouds
Magnetic reconnection
Oxygen
Solar coronal mass ejections
Solar filament eruptions
Solar filaments
Solar flares
Solar physics
Solar storm
Solar wind
Spacecraft
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A comprehensive analysis of plasma and composition characteristics inside magnetic clouds (MCs) observed by the Advanced Composition Explorer spacecraft from 1998 February to 2011 August is presented. The results show that MCs have specific interior structures, and MCs of different speeds show differences in composition and structure. Compared with the slow MCs, fast MCs have enhanced mean charge states of iron, oxygen, silicon, magnesium, , , , and values. For ionic species in fast MCs, a higher atomic number represents a greater enhancement of mean charge state than slow MCs. We also find that both the fast and slow MCs display bimodal structure distribution in the mean iron charge state ( ), which suggests that the existence of flux rope prior to the eruption is common. Furthermore, the , , and ratio distribution inside fast MCs have the feature that the posterior peak is higher than the anterior one. This result agrees with the "standard model" for coronal mass ejection/flares, by which magnetic reconnection occurs beneath the flux rope, thereby ionizing the ions of the posterior part of the flux rope sufficiently by high-energy electron collisions or by direct heating in the reconnection region.
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.3847/1538-4357/ab7a28