Structure, Propagation and Expansion of a CME-Driven Shock in the Heliosphere: A Revisit of the 2012 July 23 Extreme Storm

TL;DR

This study revisits the 2012 July 23 extreme CME-driven shock, analyzing its structure, propagation, and expansion in the heliosphere through multi-point observations and modeling, revealing complex morphology and variable impact reach.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the shock's structure and expansion, highlighting the dominance of expansion over translation and the potential for the shock to reach the outer heliosphere.

Findings

Shock expanded roughly self-similarly after 1.5 hours from launch

Shock's impact was limited, not reaching Mercury, STEREO B, or Venus

Shock may persist to the outer heliosphere, affecting distant planets

Abstract

We examine the structure, propagation and expansion of the shock associated with the 2012 July 23 extreme coronal mass ejection (CME). Characteristics of the shock determined from multi-point imaging observations are compared to in situ measurements at different locations and a complex radio type II burst, which according to our definition has multiple branches that may not all be fundamental-harmonic related. The white-light shock signature can be modeled reasonably well by a spherical structure and was expanding backward even on the opposite side of the Sun. The expansion of the shock, which was roughly self-similar after the first $\sim$1.5 hours from launch, largely dominated over the translation of the shock center for the time period of interest. Our study also suggests a bow-shock morphology around the nose at later times due to the outward motion in combination with the expansion of the ejecta. The shock decayed and failed to reach Mercury in the backward direction and STEREO B and Venus in the lateral directions, as indicated by the imaging and in situ observations. The shock in the nose direction, however, may persist to the far outer heliosphere, with predicted impact on Dawn around 06 UT on July 25 and on Jupiter around 23:30 UT on July 27 by an MHD model. The type II burst shows properties generally consistent with the spatial/temporal variations of the shock deduced from imaging and in situ observations. In particular, the low-frequency bands agree well with the in situ measurements of a very low density ahead of the shock at STEREO A.