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We use the observation of an Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) wave in the lower solar corona, seen with the two Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft in extreme ultraviolet light on 2007 May 19, to model the same event with a three-dimensional (3D) time-depending magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code that includes solar coronal magnetic fields derived with Wilcox Solar Observatory magnetogram data, and a solar wind outflow accelerated with empirical heating functions. The model includes a coronal mass ejection (CME) of Gibson and Low flux rope type above the reconstructed active region with parameters adapted from observations to excite the EIT wave. We trace the EIT wave running as circular velocity enhancement around the launching site of the CME in the direction tangential to the sphere produced by the wave front, and compute the phase velocities of the wave front. We find that the phase velocities are in good agreement with theoretical values for a fast magnetosonic wave, derived with the physical parameters of the model, and with observed phase speeds of an incident EIT wave reflected by a coronal hole and running at about the same location. We also produce in our 3D MHD model the observed reflection of the EIT wave at the coronal hole boundary, triggered by the magnetic pressure difference between the wave front hitting the hole and the boundary magnetic fields of the coronal hole, and the response of the coronal hole, which leads to the generation of secondary reflected EIT waves radiating away in different directions than the incident EIT wave. This is the first 3D MHD model of an EIT wave triggered by a CME that includes realistic solar magnetic field, with results comparing favorably to STEREO Extreme Ultraviolet Imager observations.

Type II solar radio bursts are the primary radio emissions generated by shocks and they are linked with impending space weather events at Earth. We simulate type II bursts by combining elaborate three-dimensional MHD simulations of realistic coronal mass ejections (CMEs) at the Sun with an analytic kinetic radiation theory developed recently. The modeling includes initialization with solar magnetic and active region fields reconstructed from magnetograms of the Sun, a flux rope of the initial CME dimensioned with STEREO spacecraft observations, and a solar wind driven with averaged empirical data. We demonstrate impressive accuracy in time, frequency, and intensity for the CME and type II burst observed on 2011 February 15. This implies real understanding of the physical processes involved regarding the radio emission excitation by shocks and supports the near-term development of a capability to predict and track these events for space weather prediction.

We simulated an expanding loop or slow coronal mass ejection (CME) in the solar corona dimensioned with size parameters taken from real coronal expanding loops observed with the STEREO spacecraft. We find that the loop expands to Sun's size within about one hour, consistent with slow CME observations. At the top of the loop, plasma is being blown off the loop, enabled with the reconnection between the loop's flux rope magnetic field and the radial magnetic field of the Sun, thus yielding feeding material for the formation of the slow solar wind. This mechanism is in accordance with the observed blob formation of the slow solar wind. We find wave packets traveling with local sound speed downward toward the footpoints of the loop, already seen in coronal seismology observations and simulations of stationary coronal loops. Here, we generalize these results for an expanding medium. We also find a reflection of the wave packets, identified as slow magnetoacoustic waves, at the footpoints of the loop. This confirms the formation of standing waves within the coronal loop. In particular, the reflected waves can partly escape the loop top and contribute to the heating of the solar wind. The present study improves our understanding on how loop material can emerge to form blobs, major ingredients of slow CMEs, and how the release of the wave energy stored in slow magnetoacoustic waves, and transported away from the Sun within expanding loops, contributes to the acceleration and formation of the slow solar wind.