Global insight into a complex-structured heliosphere based on the local multi-point analysis

Abstract

From 29 January to 7 February 2022, the heliosphere was structured with large-scale interacting substructures that appeared with significant dissimilarities at distant observations separated longitudinally by ∼34°. Probing the complexity of the structured heliosphere with multi-point in situ and imaging observations by using a fleet of spacecraft has revealed many unknown facts on the dynamics of large-scale structures in the heliosphere. In this paper, we investigate a complex-structured heliosphere by analyzing the Sun, solar corona, and solar wind with remote and in situ observations aided by heliospheric modeling. We identified multiple flux ropes (FRs) associated with large expulsions of magnetized plasma-coronal mass ejections, from the same solar source in a three-day interval, an interplanetary wave shock, and a sheath in front of the FRs. In situ observations displayed a stream interaction region behind FRs formed due to the overtaking of different-speed solar winds. This high-speed stream originated from a coronal hole located southeast of the coronal mass ejection solar source. We find evidence of merging FRs, FR deflection due to the presence of the nearby coronal hole, and FR’s unalike structural appearance at distant multi-point observations obtained at 1 au. This complex-structured heliosphere resulted in multiple G1-class geomagnetic storms when interacting with Earth’s magnetosphere. Thus, the study focuses on the reconstruction of the structured heliosphere based on observations and modeling. It highlights the importance of multi-point observations in understanding the global configuration and disparity in the local nature of a structured heliosphere.

On the Mesoscale Structure of Coronal Mass Ejections at Mercury’s Orbit: BepiColombo and Parker Solar Probe Observations

“…We note that Regnault et al (2024) reached the same conclusion for an event observed at SolO and Earth (separated at the time by 0.13 au in heliocentric distance and ∼2°in angular distance), highlighting how small spatial separations can have a prominent impact on the observed CME properties. Likewise, the different flux rope orientations recovered via fitting models (keeping in mind, however, the large uncertainties involved, especially at Bepi, due to the extra data processing described in Appendix B) suggest, in agreement with previous work (e.g., Farrugia et al 2011;Möstl et al 2012;Pal et al 2023), that the axial field direction is more of a "local" quantity rather than part of a coherent, large-scale flux tube. In the case analyzed here, it is possible that interaction with a following HPS had some influence on the orientation of the ejecta at Parker as, e.g., the events investigated by Farrugia et al (2011) andPal et al (2023) involved interactions with stream interaction regions or those studied by Möstl et al (2012) involved CME-CME interactions.…”

“…Likewise, the different flux rope orientations recovered via fitting models (keeping in mind, however, the large uncertainties involved, especially at Bepi, due to the extra data processing described in Appendix B) suggest, in agreement with previous work (e.g., Farrugia et al 2011;Möstl et al 2012;Pal et al 2023), that the axial field direction is more of a "local" quantity rather than part of a coherent, large-scale flux tube. In the case analyzed here, it is possible that interaction with a following HPS had some influence on the orientation of the ejecta at Parker as, e.g., the events investigated by Farrugia et al (2011) andPal et al (2023) involved interactions with stream interaction regions or those studied by Möstl et al (2012) involved CME-CME interactions. Finally, it is interesting to speculate on the uniqueness of the 2022 February 15 event that is the focus of this work.…”

The Loss of Starlink Satellites in February 2022: How Moderate Geomagnetic Storms Can Adversely Affect Assets in Low‐Earth Orbit

“…This event had a higher speed (458 km/s) than CME2, hence, it is likely that the two CMEs interacted during their interplanetary propagation. A recent study by Pal et al (2023) analyzed the dynamics and interactions of CME1, CME2, and CME3 in the interplanetary medium in detail. They approximated the heliocentric distance where CME2 and CME3 possibly merged to be around ∼0.4 au.…”

“…Multiple studies have analyzed the solar eruptive events (e.g., Dang et al, 2022;Fang et al, 2022;Gopalswamy et al, 2023;Kataoka et al, 2022;Pal et al, 2023), Joule-heating-mediated changes in thermospheric conditions as a result of their interaction with Earth's magnetosphere (e.g., He et al, 2023;Laskar et al, 2023;Lin et al, 2022;Lockwood et al, 2023), thermospheric drag and orbital decay of the Starlink satellites (e.g., Berger et al, 2023;Guarnieri et al, 2023;Y. Zhang et al, 2022), as well as magnetospheric and ionospheric effects (e.g., Duann et al, 2023;Gulyaeva et al, 2023;Tsurutani et al, 2022;Tsyganenko et al, 2022) due to the geomagnetic storms of 3-4 February 2022.…”

Using Solar Orbiter as an Upstream Solar Wind Monitor for Real Time Space Weather Predictions

“…For example, placing a spacecraft within Mercury's orbit would give several days lead time, but the solar wind structures seen by the spacecraft may have evolved significantly after traveling to Earth (Palmerio et al, 2022;Rodríguez-García et al, 2022). While several case studies have already shown how an upstream spacecraft can be useful in predicting the arrival time and geo-effectiveness (Amerstorfer et al, 2018;Kubicka et al, 2016;Lindsay et al, 1999;Pal et al, 2023;Rollett et al, 2014), such a concept has never been attempted in real time.…”