EXPLORING THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE CME’S ROTATION IN THE HELIOSPHERE

Authors: Laura Balmaceda (GMU/NASA GSFC), Miriam Lorenzo Laguno (Interdisciplinary Higher Education Centre (CFIS), Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Barcelona ,Spain), Teresa Nieves-Chinchilla

Magnetic Flux Ropes (MFRs) are the fundamental internal structure of Coronal Mass Ejections (ICMEs). Among other properties, the orientation of their axis is critical in space weather to assess the geoeffectiveness of Earth directed CMEs.

CME rotation may be driven by complex interactions with the heliospheric current sheet, the ambient solar wind magnetic fields, or magnetic reconnection events during interplanetary transit. In this work we explore the possible causes for the rotation reported in the middle and outer corona of the CME observed on June 16, 2010. This CME was detected both in remote sensing images, by the SECCHI/STEREO suite and SOHO/LASCO coronagraphs, and in-situ at two heliospheric distances, by MESSENGER (0.5AU) and Wind (1AU).