Author:

Keywords:

Sun: activity, Sun: corona, Sun: coronal mass ejections (CMEs), Science & Technology, Physical Sciences, Astronomy & Astrophysics, SELF-ORGANIZED CRITICALITY, SOLAR-FLARES, SUN, ERUPTIONS, FILAMENTS, CATALOG, MODEL, LASCO, STATE, CMES, astro-ph.SR, 0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences, 0202 Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics, 0306 Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural), 5101 Astronomical sciences, 5107 Particle and high energy physics, 5109 Space sciences

Abstract:

© 2014. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Solar eruptions are usually associated with a variety of phenomena occurring in the low corona before, during, and after the onset of eruption. Though easily visible in coronagraph observations, so-called stealth coronal mass ejections (CMEs) do not obviously exhibit any of these low-coronal signatures. The presence or absence of distinct low-coronal signatures can be linked to different theoretical models to establish the mechanisms by which the eruption is initiated and driven. In this study, 40 CMEs without low-coronal signatures occurring in 2012 are identified. Their observational and kinematic properties are analyzed and compared to those of regular CMEs. Solar eruptions without clear on-disk or low-coronal signatures can lead to unexpected space weather impacts, since many early warning signs for significant space weather activity are not present in these events. A better understanding of their initiation mechanism(s) will considerably improve the ability to predict such space weather events.