Characterizing Coronal Mass Ejections in Solar Cycle Analysis

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the trend of coronal mass ejections during solar cycle 23, revealing a decreasing pattern over two decades and highlighting the Sun's dynamic behavior despite its cyclical nature.

Contribution

It provides a detailed time series analysis of CME data during solar cycle 23, identifying trends and distribution characteristics of CMEs.

Findings

Decreasing trend of CMEs from 1996 to 2016

CMEs are normally distributed

Increased geomagnetic storms during cycle phases

Abstract

The Sun is the major source of heat and light in our solar system. The solar cycle is the 11-year cycle of solar activity that can be determined by the rise and fall in the numbers and surface area of sunspots. Solar activity is associated with several factors including radio flux, solar irradiance, magnetic field, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and solar cycles. This study attempts to determine the Sun's activity specifically for the coronal mass ejection, its trend during solar cycle 23, and its apparent difference. A time series analysis was used to measure the CME data for larger cases and to see the apparent difference and trends of the CMEs. The result shows that a decreasing trend of coronal mass ejection from the year 1996 to 2016. It is therefore concluded that the coronal mass ejection data are normally distributed while coronal mass ejections are distributed and curved normally as fluctuation was found in the intensity of the disturbed storm time index as the number of great geomagnetic storms undeniably increased in the ascending and descending phases of the cycle. This reveals that eventhough the Sun has cycles and trends, it shows its inherent characteristics. The Sun still possess getting more dynamic through time which showcases through the limited parameters involved in this study.