In-situ Heliospheric Science Symposium |
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September 18 - 20, 2012
11101 Johns Hopkins Road Building 200 Conference Room 200-E100 JHU/APL, Laurel MD |
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Session E: Coronal and Interplanetary Transients
Chairs: Lan Jian, Angelos Vourlidas
Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are traditionally observed close to the Sun by imaging telescopes while their interplanetary counterparts (ICMEs) have been observed by in-situ instrumentation at larger heliocentric distances. These widely different observation methods at different stages of the transient’s lifetime have precluded us from understanding the details of the evolution of CMEs in the heliosphere and their interaction with the ambient solar wind. In the last five years, however, a fleet of solar and heliospheric monitors (i.e., SOHO, Wind, ACE), led by the twin STEREO spacecraft, have enabled multi-aspect and multi-point observations of coronal transients and their evolution in the inner heliosphere. For the first time, we have the ability to image and measure in-situ the same transient, follow a transient continuously from the Sun to Earth, and sample a transient in-situ at intermediate points (e.g., around Mercury with MESSENGER and at Venus with Venus Express). With these new observations, the theoretical study and numerical modeling of these transients enter a new era.
The results of these studies are beginning to shed light on several issues of CME propagation and evolution (e.g., heliospheric kinematics, CME-CME interaction, shock evolution) but are also revealing problems in the comparison of physical parameters derived from imaging and in-situ analyses. Examples of questions that have arisen include: Where do small-scale flux-rope CMEs come from? Do CMEs rotate in the inner heliosphere? How reliable are in-situ flux rope fitting methods? How do CMEs expand along or normal to their propagation direction?
In this session, we solicit contributions that address these (and other) questions based on recent developments in understanding the origin, evolution, and solar cycle variation of CMEs/ICMEs. In particular, we encourage contributions that attempt to reconcile imaging and the interpretation of in-situ observations. We would like to keep the oral contributions short in order to allow for more time for discussion. Those interested in presenting in this session, please contact the session organizers, Lan Jian (lan.jian@nasa.gov) or Angelos Vourlidas (angelos.vourlidas@nrl.navy.mil), by the end of July.
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Last Updated: 27 July 2012