Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2008-10-07
Astrophys.J.691:1222-1234,2009
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
13 pages. ApJ, accepted
Scientific paper
10.1088/0004-637X/691/2/1222
In this paper we present the first automatically constructed LASCO CME catalog, a result of the application of the Computer Aided CME Tracking software (CACTus) on the LASCO archive during the interval September 1997 - January 2007. We have studied the CME characteristics and have compared them with similar results obtained by manual detection (CDAW CME catalog). On average CACTus detects less than 2 events per day during solar minimum up to 8 events during maximum, nearly half of them being narrow (< 20 degrees). Assuming a correction factor, we find that the CACTus CME rate is surprisingly consistent with CME rates found during the past 30 years. The CACTus statistics show that small scale outflow is ubiquitously observed in the outer corona. The majority of CACTus-only events are narrow transients related to previous CME activity or to intensity variations in the slow solar wind, reflecting its turbulent nature. A significant fraction (about 15%) of CACTus-{\it only} events were identified as independent events, thus not related to other CME activity. The CACTus CME width distribution is essentially scale invariant in angular span over a range of scales from 20 to 120 degrees while previous catalogues present a broad maximum around 30 degrees. The possibility that the size of coronal mass outflows follow a power law distribution could indicate that no typical CME size exists, i.e. that the narrow transients are not different from the larger well-defined CMEs.
Berghmans David
der Linden Ronald A. M. Van
Robbrecht Eva
No associations
LandOfFree
Automated LASCO CME catalog for solar cycle 23: are CMEs scale invariant? does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Automated LASCO CME catalog for solar cycle 23: are CMEs scale invariant?, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Automated LASCO CME catalog for solar cycle 23: are CMEs scale invariant? will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-558068