Combined STEREO/RHESSI Study of Coronal Mass Ejection Acceleration and Particle Acceleration in Solar Flares

The CSHKP cartoons get more and more colorful with time, but they seldom escape from 2D. This is among the best ones; it must be a candidate for gaudiest CSHKP cartoon for sure. The addition of color has certainly enhanced the artistic level of modern cartoons!

      The association of flare and CME timing gets closer and closer, to the point where the distinctive non-thermal signature of a flare (the hard X-rays of the impulsive phase) cannot be distinguished from the acceleration phase of the CME. The suggestion of downward return flow external to the ejection is interesting, since momentum must aftr all be conserved. On the other hand, the opening of field would generally allow the solar wind to flow, thus pointing the velocity arrows in the exact opposite direction. The open arrows and thin red arrows (ostensibly inflow to the reconnection point). But the need for dimming and the availability of an exhaust channel out into the heliosphere means that these arrows should point vertically up, not conveniently horizontal.