Solar cycle variation of real CME latitudes

TL;DR

This study develops a method to correct projection effects in CME latitude observations, revealing detailed latitudinal distributions and their variation with the solar cycle from 1996 to 2006.

Contribution

It introduces a new approach to accurately determine real CME latitudes, uncovering their cycle-dependent distribution and association with solar magnetic field changes.

Findings

High-latitude CMEs (~3%) occur mainly during polar magnetic field reversal.

Mid-latitude CMEs (~4%) show a three-peak distribution over the cycle.

Low-latitude CME occurrence peaks at solar minimum and decline phases.

Abstract

With the assumption of radial motion and uniform longitudinal distribution of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), we propose a method to eliminate projection effects from the apparent observed CME latitude distribution. This method has been applied to SOHO LASCO data from 1996 January to 2006 December. As a result, we find that the real CME latitude distribution had the following characteristics: (1) High-latitude CMEs ($\theta>60^{\circ}$ where $\theta$ is the latitude) constituted 3% of all CMEs and mainly occurred during the time when the polar magnetic fields reversed sign. The latitudinal drift of the high-latitude CMEs was correlated with that of the heliospheric current sheet. (2) 4% of all CMEs occurred in the range $45^{\circ}\leq\theta\leq60^{\circ}$. These mid-latitude CMEs occurred primarily in 2000, near the middle of 2002 and in 2005, respectively, forming a prominent three-peak structure; (3) The highest occurrence probability of low-latitude ($\theta< 45^{\circ}$) CMEs was at the minimum and during the declining phase of the solar cycle. However, the highest occurrence rate of low-latitude CMEs was at the maximum and during the declining phase of the solar cycle. The latitudinal evolution of low-latitude CMEs did not follow the Sp\"{o}rer sunspot law, which suggests that many CMEs originated outside of active regions.