A prolonged He+ enhancement within a coronal mass ejection in the solar wind

R. M. Skoug, S. J. Bame, W. C. Feldman, J. T. Gosling, D. J. McComas, J. T. Steinberg, R. L. Tokar, P. Riley, L. F. Burlaga, N. F. Ness, C. W. Smith

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

80 Scopus citations

Abstract

A coronal mass ejection and magnetic cloud containing an unusually large enhancement of He+ was observed in the solar wind by the plasma and magnetic field instruments on the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft on May 2-4, 1998. The He+/He++ ratio during this event exceeded 0.5% for a period of more than 24 hours, and reached values as high as 100%. The high He+/He++ ratio indicates the presence of prominence material, and in fact a disappearing filament and prominence were observed at the Sun in association with this event. The prolonged observation of He+ indicates that prominence material extended through much of this CME, the first such observation in a CME in the solar wind.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)161-164
Number of pages4
JournalGeophysical Research Letters
Volume26
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 15 1999
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Geophysics
  • General Earth and Planetary Sciences

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A prolonged He+ enhancement within a coronal mass ejection in the solar wind'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this