Erupting Flux Rope, Rising X-Ray Source and a Slow CME on 16 April 2002

GOFF, C.P.; VAN DRIEL-GESZTELYI, L.; HARRA, L.K.; MATTHEWS, S.A.; MANDRINI, C.H.

Leuven, Bélgica

Congreso; 11th European Solar Physics Meeting "The Dynamic Sun: Challenges for Theory and Observations"; 2005

A long-duration event (LDE) linked to a slow coronal mass ejection (CME) was observed at the NW solar limb on 16 April 2002. A multiwavelength analysis involving TRACE, RHESSI, SOHO/EIT, CDS and LASCO observations as well as magnetic modelling (SOHO/MDI) provided several new pieces of evidence supporting the classical LDE/CME scenario: the event started with the eruption of a filament, which was found to have helical mass motions when crossing the CDS spectrograph slit situated 50" above the limb. Rising with the filament, a coronal X-ray source was identified as a plasmoid originating from the interaction between upward reconnection outflow and the closed magnetic structure of the erupting filament. We also found down-flows of plasma in hot, newly reconnected flare loops and an exponential acceleration of the erupting filament between the TRACE and LASCO/C2 fields of view.