Research Article

Solar signatures and eruption mechanism of the August 14, 2010 coronal mass ejection (CME)

¹ Solar-Terrestrial Center for Excellence, Royal Observatory of Belgium, Solar Influences Data Analysis Center, Avenue Circulaire-3-Ringlaan, 1180 Brussels, Belgium
² Centre for Mathematical Plasma-Astrophysics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
³ Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
⁴ NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
⁵ European Space Agency/ESAC, Camino Bajo del Castillo s/n, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain

^* Corresponding author: elke.dhuys@observatory.be

Received: 18 July 2016
Accepted: 18 January 2017

Abstract

On August 14, 2010 a wide-angled coronal mass ejection (CME) was observed. This solar eruption originated from a destabilized filament that connected two active regions and the unwinding of this filament gave the eruption an untwisting motion that drew the attention of many observers. In addition to the erupting filament and the associated CME, several other low-coronal signatures that typically indicate the occurrence of a solar eruption were associated with this event. However, contrary to what was expected, the fast CME (v > 900 km s⁻¹) was accompanied by only a weak C4.4 flare. We investigate the various eruption signatures that were observed for this event and focus on the kinematic evolution of the filament in order to determine its eruption mechanism. Had this solar eruption occurred just a few days earlier, it could have been a significant event for space weather. The risk of underestimating the strength of this eruption based solely on the C4.4 flare illustrates the need to include all eruption signatures in event analyses in order to obtain a complete picture of a solar eruption and assess its possible space weather impact.