Estimation of the Physical Parameters of a CME at High Coronal Heights Using Low-frequency Radio Observations

• Published in: The Astrophysical journal Vol. 893; no. 1; pp. 28 - 40
• Main Authors: Mondal, Surajit, Oberoi, Divya, Vourlidas, Angelos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia The American Astronomical Society 10.04.2020; IOP Publishing
• Subjects: Active sun; Astrophysics; Corona; Coronal mass ejection; Emission measurements; Frequency ranges; Image detection; LF radio; Magnetic fields; Measuring instruments; Parameter estimation; Physical properties; Plasmas (physics); Radio emission; Radio observation; Remote sensing; Remote sensing techniques; Sensing techniques; Solar coronal mass ejections; Solar magnetic fields
• ISSN: 0004-637X; 1538-4357
• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab7fab

Measuring the physical parameters of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), particularly their entrained magnetic field, is crucial for understanding their physics and for assessing their geoeffectiveness. At the moment, only remote sensing techniques can probe these quantities in the corona, the region where CMEs form and acquire their defining characteristics. Radio observations offer the most direct means for estimating the magnetic field when gyrosynchrotron emission is detected. In this work we measure various CME plasma parameters, including its magnetic field, by modeling the gyrosynchrotron emission from a CME. The dense spectral coverage over a wide frequency range provided by the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) affords a much better spectral sampling than possible before. The MWA images also provide a much higher imaging dynamic range, enabling us to image these weak emissions. Hence we are able to detect radio emission from a CME at larger distances (∼4.73 R ) than have been reported before. The flux densities reported here are among the lowest measured in similar works. Our ability to make extensive measurements on a slow and otherwise unremarkable CME suggests that with the availability of data from the new-generation instruments like the MWA, it should now be possible to make routine, direct detections of radio counterparts of CMEs.