Click on the image above for a larger version.
The association of flare and CME timing gets closer and closer, to the point where the distinctive non-thermal signature of a flare (the hard X-rays of the impulsive phase) cannot be distinguished from the acceleration phase of the CME. Furthermore, this study has led to a new candidate for gaudiest cartoon. The addition of color has certainly enhanced the artistic level of modern cartoons!
On a more sober note, this cartoon has a certain weirdness It seems to show mass flow independent of the field, whereas we think that CMEs are magnetically driven. These flows would be irrelevant at low plasma beta, especially those outside the structure. Does the cartoon imply somehow that CME mass is leaking into the cavity structure? On the other hand, the arrows might be trying to patch up a hopeless 2D situation by implying some sort of three-dimensionality. One might imagine that the mass penetration of the cavity would correspond to the way the Earth's magnetopause works. If so it does not come across very convincingly, but it is graphically striking.
April 16, 2009
August 27, 2010
