The effect of stream interaction regions on ICME structures observed in longitudinal conjunction

TL;DR

This study investigates how stream interaction regions influence the evolution of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) between Mercury and 1 AU, revealing that interactions can cause significant alterations in ICME structures.

Contribution

It demonstrates the impact of large-scale corotating structures on ICME evolution, highlighting the importance of solar wind interactions in predicting ICME properties.

Findings

One ICME was altered by a stream interaction region.

The other ICME remained unchanged without interactions.

Interactions can induce fundamental changes in ICME structures.

Abstract

We study two interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) observed at Mercury and 1 AU by spacecraft in longitudinal conjunction, investigating the question: what causes the drastic alterations observed in some ICMEs during propagation, while other ICMEs remain relatively unchanged? Of the two ICMEs, the first one propagated relatively self-similarly, while the second one underwent significant changes in its properties. We focus on the presence or absence of large-scale corotating structures in the ICME propagation space between Mercury and 1 AU, that have been shown to influence the orientation of ICME magnetic structures and the properties of ICME sheaths. We determine the flux rope orientation at the two locations using force-free flux rope fits as well as the classification by Nieves-Chinchilla et al. (2019). We also use measurements of plasma properties at 1 AU, the size evolution of the sheaths and ME with heliocentric distance, and identification of structures in the propagation space based on in situ data, remote-sensing observations, and simulations of the steady-state solar wind, to complement our analysis. Results indicate that the changes observed in one ICME were likely caused by a stream interaction region, while the ICME exhibiting little change did not interact with any transients between Mercury and 1 AU. This work provides an example of how interactions with corotating structures in the solar wind can induce fundamental changes in ICMEs. Our findings can help lay the foundation for improved predictions of ICME properties at 1 AU.