Association between Tornadoes and Instability of Hosting Prominence

TL;DR

This study analyzes prominence tornadoes observed by SDO/AIA, revealing that nearly all tornadoes destabilize their prominences and about half trigger CMEs, highlighting their potential as space weather precursors.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive statistical analysis of prominence tornadoes and their association with CMEs, demonstrating their predictive value for space weather.

Findings

48% of tornadoes triggered CMEs

50% caused internal motions or failed eruptions

Only 2% had no observed activity at end of lifetime

Abstract

We studied the dynamics of all prominence tornadoes detected by the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly from 2011 January 01 to December 31. In total, 361 events were identified during the whole year, but only 166 tornadoes were traced until the end of their lifetime. Out of 166 tornadoes, 80 (48%) triggered CMEs in hosting prominences, 83 (50%) caused failed coronal mass ejections (CMEs) or strong internal motion in the prominences, and only 3 (2%) finished their lifetimes without any observed activity. Therefore, almost all prominence tornadoes lead to the destabilization of their hosting prominences and half of them trigger CMEs. Consequently, prominence tornadoes may be used as precursors for CMEs and hence for space weather predictions.