Detection asymmetry in solar energetic particle events

¹ Jeremiah Horrocks Institute, University of Central Lancashire, Preston PR1 2HE, UK
² Heliophysics Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
³ Department of Physics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
⁴ Secure System Platform Research Laboratories, NEC Corporation, Kanagawa 211-8666, Japan
⁵ Astronomical Observatory, Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
⁶ Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center, 3251 Hanover Street, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA
⁷ European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), Camino Bajo del Castillo s/n, 28692 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
⁸ Universidad de Alcalá, Space Research Group (SRG-UAH), Plaza de San Diego s/n, 28801 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
⁹ University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, 3090 Center Green Dr., Boulder, CO 80301, USA

^⋆ Corresponding author; sdalla@uclan.ac.uk

Received: 14 November 2024
Accepted: 15 February 2025

Abstract

Context. Solar energetic particles (SEPs) are detected in interplanetary space in association with solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The magnetic connection between the observing spacecraft and the solar active region (AR) source of the event is a key parameter in determining whether SEPs are observed and the particle event’s properties.

Aims. We investigate whether an east-west asymmetry in the detection of SEP events is present in observations and discuss its possible link to the corotation of magnetic flux tubes with the Sun.

Methods. We used a published dataset of 239 CMEs recorded between 2006 and 2017 that had source regions both on the Sun’s front and far sides as seen from Earth. We produced distributions of occurrences of in situ SEP intensity enhancements associated with the CME events versus Δϕ, the longitudinal separation between the source AR and the spacecraft magnetic footpoint based on the nominal Parker spiral. We focussed on protons of energy > 10 MeV measured by STEREO A, STEREO B, and GOES at 1 au. We also considered occurrences of 71–112 keV electron events detected by MESSENGER between 0.31 and 0.47 au.

Results. We find an east-west asymmetry with respect to the best magnetic connection (Δϕ = 0) in the detection of > 10 MeV proton events and of 71–112 keV electron events. For protons, observers for which the source AR is on the eastern side of the spacecraft footpoint and not well connected (−180° < Δϕ < −40°) are 93% more likely to detect an SEP event compared to observers with +40° < Δϕ < +180°. The asymmetry may be a signature of the corotation of magnetic flux tubes with the Sun since, for events with Δϕ < 0, corotation sweeps particle-filled flux tubes towards the observing spacecraft, while for Δϕ > 0 it moves them away. Alternatively, it may be related to asymmetric acceleration or propagation effects.