Evolution of Magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor Instability into the Outer Solar Corona and Low Inter Planetary Space

TL;DR

This paper investigates the evolution of magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor instability in eruptive prominences from the solar corona to interplanetary space, revealing how magnetic fields influence instability growth and structure formation.

Contribution

It provides observational evidence and theoretical analysis of MRT instability development from the corona to interplanetary space, including magnetic field estimates and structural evolution insights.

Findings

MRT instability observed up to 20 solar radii.

Magnetic field estimated as 21-40 mG to suppress MRT growth.

Structural evolution from finger-like to mushroom and spike formations.

Abstract

We analyze the observations from Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO)-A\&B/COR-1 of an eruptive prominence in the intermediate corona on 7 June 2011 at 08:45 UT, which consists of magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor (MRT) unstable plasma segments. Its upper northward segment shows spatio-temporal evolution of MRT instability in form of finger structures upto the outer corona and low inter-planetary space. Using method of Dolei et al.(2014), It is estimated that the density in each bright finger is greater than corresponding dark region lying below of it in the surrounding intermediate corona. The instability is evolved due to wave perturbations that are parallel to the magnetic field at the density interface. We conjecture that the prominence plasma is supported by tension component of the magnetic field against gravity. Using linear stability theory, magnetic field is estimated as 21-40 mG to suppress growth of MRT in the observed finger structures. In the southward plasma segment, a horn-like structure is observed at 11:55 UT in the intermediate corona that also indicates MRT instability. Falling blobs are also observed in both the plasma segments. In the outer corona upto 6-13 solar radii, the mushroom-like plasma structures have been identified in the upper northward MRT unstable plasma segment using STEREO-A/COR-2. These structures most likely grew due to the breaking and twisting of fingers at large spatial scales in weaker magnetic fields. In the lower inter-planetary space upto 20 solar radii, these structures are fragmented into various small-scale localized plasma spikes most likely due to turbulent mixing.