Cold prominence materials detected within magnetic clouds during 1998-2007

TL;DR

This study investigates the presence of cold prominence materials within magnetic clouds observed by ACE from 1998 to 2007, revealing that 36% of analyzed MCs contained such materials, which is higher than previously reported.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of prominence materials in magnetic clouds using specific charge-state criteria over a decade, highlighting their prevalence and detection methods.

Findings

36% of magnetic clouds contained prominence materials.

Unusual ion abundances serve as reliable indicators.

Higher prevalence of prominence materials than previously reported.

Abstract

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are intense solar explosive eruptions, and they are frequently correlated with prominence eruptions. Previous observations show that about $70\%$ of CMEs are associated with prominence eruptions. However, there are only a handful of reported observations of prominence plasma materials within interplanetary CMEs (ICMEs), which are the interplanetary manifestations of CMEs. Moreover, approximately $4\%$ of ICMEs exhibit the presence of prominence materials, and approximately $12\%$ of magnetic clouds (MCs) contain prominence materials. We aim to comprehensively search for cold prominence materials in MCs observed by the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft during 1998-2007. Using the criteria of unusual $O^{5+}$ and (or) $Fe^{6+}$ abundances, we examined 76 MCs observed by ACE during 1998-2007 to search for cold prominence materials. Our results revealed that out of the 76 MCs, 27 ($36\%$) events contained prominence material regions with low-charge-state signatures. Although the fraction is still lower than the approximately $70\%$ of CMEs associated with prominence eruptions, it is much higher than $12\%$. The unusual $O^{5+}$ and (or) $Fe^{6+}$ abundances may be simple and reliable criteria to investigate prominence materials in the interplanetary medium.