Effect of the Heliospheric State on CME Evolution

TL;DR

This study compares the evolution of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) between solar cycles 23 and 24, revealing that CMEs in cycle 24 expand more and reach pressure balance at larger distances due to a weaker heliospheric state.

Contribution

It introduces the transition height parameter and provides observational evidence of anomalous CME expansion in cycle 24, linking it to heliospheric conditions.

Findings

Cycle 24 CMEs have a 62% higher average transition height than cycle 23.

CMEs in cycle 24 reach their maximum width at larger heliocentric distances.

The anomalous expansion is caused by the weak heliospheric state in cycle 24.

Abstract

The culmination of solar cycle 24 by the end of 2019 has created the opportunity to compare the differing properties of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) between two whole solar cycles: Solar cycle 23 (SC 23) and Solar cycle 24 (SC 24). We report on the width evolution of limb CMEs in SC 23 and 24 in order to test the suggestion by Gopalswamy et al. (2015a) that CME flux ropes attain pressure balance at larger heliocentric distances in SC 24. We measure CME width as a function of heliocentric distance for a significantly large number of limb CMEs (~1000) and determine the distances where the CMEs reach constant width in each cycle. We introduced a new parameter: the transition height (hc) of a CME defined as the critical heliocentric distance beyond which the CME width stabilizes to a quasi-constant value. Cycle and phase-to-phase comparisons are based on this new parameter. We find that the average value of hc in SC 24 is 62% higher than in SC 23. SC 24 CMEs attain their peak width at larger distances from the Sun as compared to SC 23 CMEs. The enhanced transition height in SC 24 is new observational ratification of the anomalous expansion. The anomalous expansion of SC 24 CMEs which is caused by the weak state of the heliosphere, accounts for the larger heliocentric distance where the pressure balance between CME flux rope and the ambient medium is attained.