Identification

Title

Development of a current sheet in the wake of a fast coronal mass ejection

Abstract

A bright ray that developed in the wake of a fast coronal mass ejection (CME) on 2005 September 7 presents a unique opportunity to study the early development and physical characteristics of a reconnecting current sheet (CS). Polarization brightness images from the Mk4 K-Coronameter at the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory are used to determine the structure of the ray along its axis low in the corona as it progressed outward. Coverage of the early development of the ray out to ~1.3 R ☉ for a period of ~27 hr after the start of the event enables for the first time in white light a measurement of a CME CS from the top of the arcade to the base of the flux rope. Measured widths of the ray are combined to obtain the kinematics of the upper and lower "Y"-points described in reconnection flux-rope models such as that of Lin & Forbes. The time dependence of these points are used to derive values for the speed and acceleration of the growth of the CS. We note the appearance of a large structure which increases in size as it expands outward in the early development of the ray and an apparent oscillation with a period of ~0.5 hr in the position angle of the ray.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7sb46pp

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2014-04-01T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact