Authors: Urszula Bąk-Stęślicka (Astronomical Institute, University of Wrocław, Poland), Sarah E. Gibson (National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80305, USA), Marek Stęślicki (Space Research Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences (CBK PAN), Warszawa, Poland)

Coronal cavities are regions of rarefied density and elliptical cross-section. In their quiescent (noneruptive) state, they have been modeled as magnetic flux ropes and studied in the context of the origins of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and the storage and release of magnetic energy in the solar corona. They can persist for extended periods and remain in an equilibrium state for several days or even weeks.
Such preexisting, quiescent cavities have also been observed to bodily erupt as a CME. In many cases an activation phase may last several hours or even days and for this reason, cavities are ideal candidates for determining pre-CME configurations and the mechanisms driving eruptions.

We will examine observations that yield new insights into the conditions leading up to solar eruptions.