Twisting/Rolling Motions and Chirality in Filament Eruptions

Abstract:

Panasenco et al. [1] report observations of several CMEs that display a rolling motion about the axis of the erupting prominence. Murphy et al. [2] present simulations of line-tied asymmetric magnetic reconnection that make a falsifiable prediction regarding the handedness of rolling motions of flux ropes during solar eruptions. Mass motions in prominence eruptions tend to be complicated, and characterizing these motions is a challenge. We use the AIA filament eruption catalog [3] as a source for finding events. If rolling motions are detected then we will investigate the handedness prediction. We use magnetograms from HMI to determine the strength and asymmetric properties of the photospheric magnetic field in the regions of interest and will use AIA observations to determine the handedness of the rolling motions. We then compare the photospheric magnetic information with the handedness to determine if there is a relationship between the two. The AIA filament eruption catalog is a great source for finding events, but it lacks a chirality determination. We aim to add these determinations and then compare the chirality with the directionality of the twisting/rolling motions.

[1] O. Panasenco, S. Martin, A. D. Joshi, & N. Srivastava, J. Atmos. Sol.-Terr. Phys., 73, 1129 (2011)
[2] N. A. Murphy, M. P. Miralles, C. L. Pope, J. C. Raymond, H. D. Winter, K. K. Reeves, D. B. Seaton, A. A. van Ballegooijen, & J. Lin, ApJ, 751, 56 (2012)
[3] http://aia.cfa.harvard.edu/filament/