Interaction of coronal mass ejections and the solar wind

A force analysis

¹ Centre for mathematical Plasma Astrophysics (CmPA), Department of Mathematics, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200B, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
e-mail: dana.talpeanu@observatory.be
² SIDC – Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB), Av. Circulaire 3, 1180 Brussels, Belgium
³ Institute of Physics, University of Maria Curie-Skłodowska, Pl. M. Curie-Skłodowska 5, 20-031 Lublin, Poland
⁴ Institute of Geodynamics of the Romanian Academy, Jean-Louis Calderon 19-21, 020032 Bucharest, Romania
⁵ Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
⁶ Heliophysics Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

Received: 18 January 2022
Accepted: 7 March 2022

Abstract

Aims. Our goal is to thoroughly analyse the dynamics of single and multiple solar eruptions, as well as a stealth ejecta. The data were obtained through self-consistent numerical simulations performed in a previous study. We also assess the effect of a different background solar wind on the propagation of these ejecta to Earth.

Methods. We calculated all the components of the forces contributing to the evolution of the numerically modelled consecutive coronal mass ejections (CMEs) obtained with the 2.5D magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) module of the code MPI-AMRVAC. We analysed the thermal and magnetic pressure gradients and the magnetic tension dictating the formation of several flux ropes in different locations in the aftermath of the eruptions. These three components were tracked in the equatorial plane during the propagation of the CMEs to Earth. Their interaction with other CMEs and with the background solar wind was also studied.

Results. We explain the formation of the stealth ejecta and the plasma blobs (or plasmoids) occurring in the aftermath of solar eruptions. We also address the faster eruption of a CME in one case with a different background wind, even when the same triggering boundary motions were applied, and attribute this to the slightly different magnetic configuration and the large neighbouring arcade. The thermal pressure gradient revealed a shock in front of these slow eruptions, formed during their propagation to 1 AU. The double-peaked magnetic pressure gradient indicates that the triggering method affects the structure of the CMEs and that a part of the adjacent streamer is ejected along with the CME.