Discrepancies in the Properties of a Coronal Mass Ejection on Scales of 0.03 au as Revealed by Simultaneous Measurements at Solar Orbiter and Wind: The 2021 November 3–5 Event
Simultaneous in situ measurements of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), including both plasma and magnetic field, by two spacecraft in radial alignment have been extremely rare. Here, we report on one such CME measured by Solar Orbiter (SolO) and Wind on 2021 November 3–5, while the spacecraft were radi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2024-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad1883 |
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| author | F. Regnault N. Al-Haddad N. Lugaz C. J. Farrugia W. Yu B. Zhuang E. E. Davies |
| author_facet | F. Regnault N. Al-Haddad N. Lugaz C. J. Farrugia W. Yu B. Zhuang E. E. Davies |
| author_sort | F. Regnault |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Simultaneous in situ measurements of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), including both plasma and magnetic field, by two spacecraft in radial alignment have been extremely rare. Here, we report on one such CME measured by Solar Orbiter (SolO) and Wind on 2021 November 3–5, while the spacecraft were radially separated by a heliocentric distance of 0.13 au and angularly by only 2.2°. We focus on the magnetic cloud (MC) part of the CME. We find notable changes in the R and N magnetic field components and in the speed profiles inside the MC between SolO and Wind. We observe a greater speed at the spacecraft farther away from the Sun without any clear compression signatures. Since the spacecraft are close to each other and computing fast magnetosonic wave speed inside the MC, we rule out temporal evolution as the reason for the observed differences, suggesting that spatial variations over 2.2° of the MC structure are at the heart of the observed discrepancies. Moreover, using shock properties at SolO, we forecast an arrival time 2 hr 30 minutes too late for a shock that is just 5 hr 31 minutes away from Wind. Predicting the north–south component of the magnetic field at Wind from SolO measurements leads to a relative error of 55%. These results show that even angular separations as low as 2.2° (or 0.03 au in arc length) between spacecraft can have a large impact on the observed CME properties, which raises the issue of the resolutions of current CME models, potentially affecting our forecasting capabilities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T23:29:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-920a23060bf24efb85800843a3872a3e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T23:29:47Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-920a23060bf24efb85800843a3872a3e2024-02-20T16:42:40ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572024-01-01962219010.3847/1538-4357/ad1883Discrepancies in the Properties of a Coronal Mass Ejection on Scales of 0.03 au as Revealed by Simultaneous Measurements at Solar Orbiter and Wind: The 2021 November 3–5 EventF. Regnault0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4017-8415N. Al-Haddad1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0973-2027N. Lugaz2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1890-6156C. J. Farrugia3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8780-0673W. Yu4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2917-5993B. Zhuang5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5996-0693E. E. Davies6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9992-8471Space Science Center, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire , USA ; florian.regnault@unh.eduSpace Science Center, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire , USA ; florian.regnault@unh.eduSpace Science Center, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire , USA ; florian.regnault@unh.eduSpace Science Center, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire , USA ; florian.regnault@unh.eduSpace Science Center, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire , USA ; florian.regnault@unh.eduSpace Science Center, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire , USA ; florian.regnault@unh.eduAustrian Space Weather Office , GeoSphere Austria, Graz, AustriaSimultaneous in situ measurements of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), including both plasma and magnetic field, by two spacecraft in radial alignment have been extremely rare. Here, we report on one such CME measured by Solar Orbiter (SolO) and Wind on 2021 November 3–5, while the spacecraft were radially separated by a heliocentric distance of 0.13 au and angularly by only 2.2°. We focus on the magnetic cloud (MC) part of the CME. We find notable changes in the R and N magnetic field components and in the speed profiles inside the MC between SolO and Wind. We observe a greater speed at the spacecraft farther away from the Sun without any clear compression signatures. Since the spacecraft are close to each other and computing fast magnetosonic wave speed inside the MC, we rule out temporal evolution as the reason for the observed differences, suggesting that spatial variations over 2.2° of the MC structure are at the heart of the observed discrepancies. Moreover, using shock properties at SolO, we forecast an arrival time 2 hr 30 minutes too late for a shock that is just 5 hr 31 minutes away from Wind. Predicting the north–south component of the magnetic field at Wind from SolO measurements leads to a relative error of 55%. These results show that even angular separations as low as 2.2° (or 0.03 au in arc length) between spacecraft can have a large impact on the observed CME properties, which raises the issue of the resolutions of current CME models, potentially affecting our forecasting capabilities.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad1883Solar coronal mass ejectionsHeliosphere |
| spellingShingle | F. Regnault N. Al-Haddad N. Lugaz C. J. Farrugia W. Yu B. Zhuang E. E. Davies Discrepancies in the Properties of a Coronal Mass Ejection on Scales of 0.03 au as Revealed by Simultaneous Measurements at Solar Orbiter and Wind: The 2021 November 3–5 Event The Astrophysical Journal Solar coronal mass ejections Heliosphere |
| title | Discrepancies in the Properties of a Coronal Mass Ejection on Scales of 0.03 au as Revealed by Simultaneous Measurements at Solar Orbiter and Wind: The 2021 November 3–5 Event |
| title_full | Discrepancies in the Properties of a Coronal Mass Ejection on Scales of 0.03 au as Revealed by Simultaneous Measurements at Solar Orbiter and Wind: The 2021 November 3–5 Event |
| title_fullStr | Discrepancies in the Properties of a Coronal Mass Ejection on Scales of 0.03 au as Revealed by Simultaneous Measurements at Solar Orbiter and Wind: The 2021 November 3–5 Event |
| title_full_unstemmed | Discrepancies in the Properties of a Coronal Mass Ejection on Scales of 0.03 au as Revealed by Simultaneous Measurements at Solar Orbiter and Wind: The 2021 November 3–5 Event |
| title_short | Discrepancies in the Properties of a Coronal Mass Ejection on Scales of 0.03 au as Revealed by Simultaneous Measurements at Solar Orbiter and Wind: The 2021 November 3–5 Event |
| title_sort | discrepancies in the properties of a coronal mass ejection on scales of 0 03 au as revealed by simultaneous measurements at solar orbiter and wind the 2021 november 3 5 event |
| topic | Solar coronal mass ejections Heliosphere |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad1883 |
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