CME Observations -- from Sun to Impact on Geospace

TL;DR

This paper reviews how coronal mass ejections originate from the Sun, propagate through space, and impact Earth's geospace, highlighting the variability and complexity of these solar-terrestrial interactions.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of CME manifestations from solar origin to their effects on Earth's environment, emphasizing the influence of solar magnetic fields and solar wind.

Findings

CME propagation is significantly affected by solar magnetic configurations.

The impact of CMEs on Earth varies greatly depending on interplanetary conditions.

CMEs can trigger diverse reactions in Earth's geospace environment.

Abstract

Our Sun is an active star expelling dynamic phenomena known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The magnetic field configuration on the Sun and related solar wind structures affect the propagation behavior of CMEs, dominate its transit time and embedded magnetic field properties when impacting Earth. Since the conditions on the Sun constantly change, the impact of CMEs on the different regimes of geospace is quite variable and may differ significantly from event to event. This short review summarizes the different manifestations of CMEs on the Sun, their appearance in interplanetary space, and how CMEs trigger a cascade of reactions as they interact with Earth.