Coronal Mass Ejections and the Injection Profiles of Solar Energetic Particle Events

Kahler, S. W., D. V. Reames, and Jr. Sheeley, N. R., Coronal Mass Ejections and the Injection Profiles of Solar Energetic Particle Events, 5, 183 (1990) (ADS)

The cartoon

(click on the image for a larger version)

An excellent example of lucid illustration of a simple point: a CME bow shock can excite SEPs ("solar cosmic rays") at any point in the heliosphere, in principle. This solves the problem of how SEPs can find their way so far, in terms of magnetic connectivity, from the parent flare/eruption that drives the bow shock.

      Of course to be simple the cartoon has to exaggerate many points. Among these in this case we would note (i) the shape of the shock surface is ad hoc; (ii) no attention is paid to the shock's incidence angle (perpendicular or parallel), which should affect its usefulness; (iii) the curls nicely invoke Larmor motion but should start small and get large as R-2 with radial distance from the Sun; (iv) particles presumably go in as well as out (see the now-iconic Cliver cartoon). The Vainio-Khan cartoon deals with this possibility as well.

Date: 2019 November 14

Update: 2019 November 24