Investigation of the Possible Trigger Mechansims of an Erupting Prominence

Abstract:

Prominences are relatively cool structures composed of over-dense plasma that are observed in the corona. Their properties are significantly diverse, making them difficult to understand. During this investigation, we examined data from the Solar Dynamic Observatory's (SDO) Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) at 304 Å and 171 Å to observe the behavior of a prominence on the day of its eruption, 13 June 2010. We measured the height of the cavity over time to estimate its rise velocity. This was found to be not constant and followed an exponential rise. We found that the best way to determine the velocity was to split the fit into a two-part velocity. Initially the rise was <5 km/s but this quickly increased to ~15-47 km/s. We investigated the prominence mass using SDO/AIA 304 Å data to look at the area of the structure, and estimated the length by looking at previous H-alpha data. From this we had a rough volume and using a standard value of prominence density we estimated the upper limit of the mass to be 9.42 x 1010 kg. Next, we used the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) to study the magnetic field strength in the area around the prominence between the 5-14 of June and found that the total absolute magnetic field (|B|) over the days was decreasing. Lastly, we used the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory Ahead spacecraft (STEREO-A) in the 195 Å and 304 Å wavelength to look at our prominence eruption using a different point of view. Examining mass and magnetic field can help us understand the trigger mechanism of this prominence. Unfortunately, this is not enough information to determine the exact cause of the eruption. Looking at future works, we can study more aspects about the sun that can be relevant in this kind of situation.