CME Classification Based on Wavelet Spectra

Abstract

We study the internal structure of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) using wavelet analysis. We derive wavelet spectra, spatially integrated over regions of interest within LASCO C2 white-light coronographic images. These spectra show an inflection point, which we use to characterize each spectrum. In a diagram of flux vs. spatial scale of the inflection point, we find that the analyzed structures fall into two, distinct groups: a low-flux, small-spatial-scale group (which we call the "homogeneous" type), and a high-flux, larger-spatial-scale group (the "collimated" type). Interestingly, if we study different regions of a given image, all of the structures fall into one of the two groups described above. From a qualitative comparison with the images, it is clear that the two groups identified by the wavelet analysis correspond to two types of morphologies, which are seen as either more-homogeneous or more-collimated structures.