Bidirectional anisotropic solar energetic particle events observed by Solar Orbiter

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ding, Zheyi, Wimmer-Schweingruber, Robert F., Chen, Yu, Zhao, Lingling, Kollhoff, Alexander, Kühl, Patrick, Yang, Liu, Berger, Lars, Heidrich-Meisner, Verena, Rodriguez-Pacheco, Javier, Ho, George C., Mason, Glenn M., Li, Gang, Formánek, Tomáš, Owen, Christopher J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866918118207520768
author Ding, Zheyi
Wimmer-Schweingruber, Robert F.
Chen, Yu
Zhao, Lingling
Kollhoff, Alexander
Kühl, Patrick
Yang, Liu
Berger, Lars
Heidrich-Meisner, Verena
Rodriguez-Pacheco, Javier
Ho, George C.
Mason, Glenn M.
Li, Gang
Formánek, Tomáš
Owen, Christopher J.
author_facet Ding, Zheyi
Wimmer-Schweingruber, Robert F.
Chen, Yu
Zhao, Lingling
Kollhoff, Alexander
Kühl, Patrick
Yang, Liu
Berger, Lars
Heidrich-Meisner, Verena
Rodriguez-Pacheco, Javier
Ho, George C.
Mason, Glenn M.
Li, Gang
Formánek, Tomáš
Owen, Christopher J.
contents Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events are critical for understanding particle acceleration and transport in the heliosphere. While most SEP events involve outward streaming particles along open magnetic field lines, bidirectional events characterized by simultaneous sunward and anti-sunward particle flows offer unique insights into magnetic field topology and the interplay of multiple acceleration sources. We aim to investigate the origin and transport of energetic particles in two rare bidirectional anisotropic SEP events observed by Solar Orbiter. Both events showed two clear velocity dispersion signatures with opposite particle anisotropies during their onset phase. The sunward streaming protons, characterized by delayed release time, harder spectral index, and higher intensities, may be attributed to coronal mass ejection-driven shock acceleration, while the promptly released anti-sunward streaming protons are likely linked to flare acceleration. Notably, in both cases, small-scale flux ropes were identified in situ during the time intervals corresponding to the bidirectional particle streaming. Path lengths derived for sunward and anti-sunward injections were substantially greater than nominal values of the Parker field lines, further supporting the role of the flux rope in shaping particle trajectories. These observations demonstrate that magnetic flux rope could significantly affect magnetic connectivity to the source region and SEP propagation in the inner heliosphere, while simultaneous velocity dispersion from two distinct particle sources allows for direct constraints on the topology of the flux rope. Our results highlight the value of combining particle anisotropy, release time, source spectra, and magnetic structure diagnostics to unravel SEP transport in complex transient magnetic structures, and also present new challenges for the current SEP transport model.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_16990
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Bidirectional anisotropic solar energetic particle events observed by Solar Orbiter
Ding, Zheyi
Wimmer-Schweingruber, Robert F.
Chen, Yu
Zhao, Lingling
Kollhoff, Alexander
Kühl, Patrick
Yang, Liu
Berger, Lars
Heidrich-Meisner, Verena
Rodriguez-Pacheco, Javier
Ho, George C.
Mason, Glenn M.
Li, Gang
Formánek, Tomáš
Owen, Christopher J.
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events are critical for understanding particle acceleration and transport in the heliosphere. While most SEP events involve outward streaming particles along open magnetic field lines, bidirectional events characterized by simultaneous sunward and anti-sunward particle flows offer unique insights into magnetic field topology and the interplay of multiple acceleration sources. We aim to investigate the origin and transport of energetic particles in two rare bidirectional anisotropic SEP events observed by Solar Orbiter. Both events showed two clear velocity dispersion signatures with opposite particle anisotropies during their onset phase. The sunward streaming protons, characterized by delayed release time, harder spectral index, and higher intensities, may be attributed to coronal mass ejection-driven shock acceleration, while the promptly released anti-sunward streaming protons are likely linked to flare acceleration. Notably, in both cases, small-scale flux ropes were identified in situ during the time intervals corresponding to the bidirectional particle streaming. Path lengths derived for sunward and anti-sunward injections were substantially greater than nominal values of the Parker field lines, further supporting the role of the flux rope in shaping particle trajectories. These observations demonstrate that magnetic flux rope could significantly affect magnetic connectivity to the source region and SEP propagation in the inner heliosphere, while simultaneous velocity dispersion from two distinct particle sources allows for direct constraints on the topology of the flux rope. Our results highlight the value of combining particle anisotropy, release time, source spectra, and magnetic structure diagnostics to unravel SEP transport in complex transient magnetic structures, and also present new challenges for the current SEP transport model.
title Bidirectional anisotropic solar energetic particle events observed by Solar Orbiter
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.16990