High-energy insights from an escaping coronal mass ejection with Solar Orbiter/STIX observations

¹ European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands
² University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Bahnhofstrasse 6, 5210 Windisch, Switzerland
³ Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, 7 Gauss Way, 94720 Berkeley, USA
⁴ ETH Zürich, Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland

^⋆ Corresponding author; laura.hayes@esa.int, lauraannhayes@gmail.com

Received: 27 May 2024
Accepted: 20 August 2024

Abstract

Context. Solar eruptive events, including solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), are typically characterised by energetically significant X-ray emissions from flare-accelerated electrons and hot thermal plasmas. However, the intense brightness of solar flares often overshadows high-coronal X-ray emissions from the associated eruptions due to the limited dynamic range of current instrumentation. Occulted events, where the main flare is blocked by the solar limb, provide an opportunity to observe and analyse the X-ray emissions specifically associated with CMEs.

Aims. This study investigates the X-ray and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emissions associated with a large filament eruption and CME that occurred on February 15, 2022. This event was highly occulted from the three vantage points of Solar Orbiter (∼45° behind the limb), Solar–TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO-A), and Earth.

Methods. We utilised X-ray observations from the Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) and EUV observations from the Full Sun Imager (FSI) of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) on board Solar Orbiter, supplemented by multi-viewpoint observations from STEREO-A/Extreme-UltraViolet Imager (EUVI). This enabled a comprehensive analysis of the X-ray emissions in relation to the filament structure observed in the EUV. We used STIX’s imaging and spectroscopy capabilities to characterise the X-ray source associated with the eruption.

Results. Our analysis reveals that the X-ray emissions associated with the occulted eruption originate from an altitude exceeding 0.3 R_⊙ above the main flare site. The X-ray time profile shows a sharp increase and exponential decay, and consists of both a hot thermal component at 17 ± 2 MK and non-thermal emissions (> 11.4 ± 0.2 keV) characterised by an electron spectral index of 3.9 ± 0.2. Imaging analysis shows an extended X-ray source that coincides with the EUV emission as observed from EUI, and was imaged until the source grew to a size exceeding the STIX imaging limit (180″).

Conclusions. Filament eruptions and associated CMEs have hot and non-thermal components, and the associated X-ray emissions are energetically significant. Our findings demonstrate that STIX combined with EUI provides a unique and powerful tool for examining the energetic properties of the CME component of solar energetic eruptions. Multi-viewpoint and multi-instrument observations are crucial for revealing such energetically significant sources in solar eruptions that might otherwise remain obscured.