EIT wave observations and modeling in the STEREO era

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Abstract

“EIT waves” are large-scale bright fronts observed propagating in the solar corona in association with coronal mass ejections (CMEs). An overview of the observed properties of large-scale wave-like fronts in the solar atmosphere (Moreton waves, EIT waves and similar phenomena observed in other wavelengths) is presented. The models proposed to explain these phenomena are reviewed. A particular emphasis is put on the recent EIT wave observations made by the STEREO (Solar–TErrestrial RElations Observatory) mission launched in October 2006. New key observational results and their implications for EIT wave models are discussed. It is concluded that no single model can account for the large variety of observed EIT wave properties. Prospects for future investigations of this complex phenomenon are outlined.

Research highlights

► Review of observations and models of large-scale fronts in the solar atmosphere. ► Recent observations made by the STEREO mission are emphasized. ► New key observational results and their implications for EIT wave models. ► No single model can account for the large variety of observed EIT wave properties.

Section snippets

Historical introduction

Transient solar phenomena occur on a variety of spatial scales. It may be considered surprising that it was not the large-scale but the small-scale transient phenomena (sunspot and faculae evolution, granules, spicules, flares, etc.) that were discovered first. These phenomena are relatively easy to detect in observations of the photosphere and chromosphere. However, due to the high density of the photosphere and chromosphere, it is difficult to produce large-scale disturbances in these layers.

Pre-STEREO observations of EIT waves

The first years of coronal observations made by the Yohkoh Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT, see Tsuneta et al., 1991) did not result in detection of large-scale coronal waves. However, the observations made by the Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT, see Delaboudinière et al., 1995) onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) produced a drastically different result. Coronal images taken in the 195 Å extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) bandpass dominated by the Fe XII emission line (peak

EIT wave modeling before the STEREO era

A number of physical mechanisms were suggested to explain EIT waves, but only five of them have been developed into quantitative model. These are the geometrical magnetoacoustics model by Wang (2000), the forward MHD simulation of a fast-mode blast wave by Wu et al. (2001), slow-mode wave simulation by Wang et al. (2009), field line opening model by Chen et al. (2002), and the electric current shell model by Delannée et al. (2008). In this Section, these models are reviewed and compared with

EIT wave research using STEREO data

First of all, it should be mentioned that the expression “pre-STEREO” in this review does not imply a chronological association. It refers rather to the EIT wave analysis made without STEREO data. Indeed, some EIT wave studies (e.g. Chen, 2009) were made after the launch of the STEREO mission but they did not use STEREO data.

The launch of the STEREO mission (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory, see Kaiser et al., 2008) brought new opportunities for EIT wave studies. STEREO consists of twin

Terminological issue

Different names exist in the literature for the solar phenomenon discussed in this paper: EIT wave (e.g. Delannée, 2000, Thompson and Myers, 2009), coronal Moreton wave (e.g. Thompson et al., 1999), flare wave (e.g. Warmuth et al., 2004a), coronal wave (Attrill et al., 2007), EUV wave (Patsourakos and Vourlidas, 2009), coronal bright front (Gallagher and Long, 2010). “Flare wave” implies a close relation to flares, but, as it was demonstrated in Section 2.5, the phenomenon shows a better

Conclusions

The EIT wave phenomenon is still far from being completely understood. No single model can account for a large variety of observed properties of EIT waves. It is mainly theoretical and modeling efforts, as well as spectroscopic diagnostics, that are required to advance our understanding of this complex phenomenon. The theoretical progress will probably be linked to the development of advanced models capable of simulating observable parameters. Comparison of quantitative models with recent and

Acknowledgments

The STEREO/SECCHI data used here were produced by an international consortium of the Naval Research Laboratory (USA), Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Lab (USA), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (USA), Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK), University of Birmingham (UK), Max-Planck-Institut for Solar System Research (Germany), Centre Spatiale de Liège (Belgium), Institut d’Optique Théorique et Appliquée (France), Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (France). EIT data have been used courtesy

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