Search NASASearch

Engineering topics

Cargill, P.

Publications and source records attributed to Cargill, P..

The radio signatures of a slow coronal mass ejection - Electron acceleration at slow-mode shocks?

The evolution of a coronal mass ejection (CME) event observed on February 17, 1985 is studied using two-dimensional radio imaging observations along with simultaneously obtained coronagraph observations. This event shows that a slow CME can be associated with type II and type IV radio bursts. The implications of the spatial association of the radio bursts with the CME are discussed. It is argued that the CME is due to an instability of the large-scale magnetic field in a helmet streamer and that the radio bursts are some of the responses to this instability. The new feature of this event is the clear association of the moving type IV burst with a CME traveling slower than the coronal Alfven speed. The structure of slow shocks driven by such a CME is discussed, and it is shown that shock drift and diffusive acceleration are ineffective. An acceleration mechanism involving current-driven lower hybrid waves is proposed.

Kundu, M.

Magnetohydrodynamic instability

There have been major advances in the theory of magnetic reconnection and of magnetic instability, with important implications for the observations, as follows: (1) Fast and slow magnetic shock waves are produced by the magnetohydrodynamics of reconnection and are potential particle accelerators. (2) The impulsive bursty regime of reconnection gives a rapid release of magnetic energy in a series of bursts. (3) The radiative tearing mode creates cool filamentary structures in the reconnection process. (4) The stability analyses imply that an arcade can become unstable when either its height or twist of plasma pressure become too great.

Priest, E. R.