We intend to provide a comprehensive answer to the question on whether all Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) have flux rope structure. To achieve this, we present a synthesis of the LASCO CME observations over the last sixteen years, assisted by 3D MHD simulations of the breakout model, EUV and coronagraphic observations from STEREO and SDO, and statistics from a revised LASCO CME database. We argue that the bright loop often seen as the CME leading edge is the result of pileup at the boundary of the erupting flux rope irrespective of whether a cavity or, more generally, a 3-part CME can be identified. Based on our previous work on white light shock detection and supported by the MHD simulations, we identify a new type of morphology, the 'two-front' morphology. It consists of a faint front followed by diffuse emission and the bright loop-like CME leading edge. We show that the faint front is caused by density compression at a wave (or possibly shock) front driven by the CME. We also present high-detailed multi-wavelength EUV observations that clarify the relative positioning of the prominence at the bottom of a coronal cavity with clear flux rope structure. Finally, we visually check the full LASCO CME database for flux rope structures. In the process, we classify the events into two clear flux rope classes ('3-part', 'Loop'), jets and outflows (no clear structure). We find that at least 40% of the observed CMEs have clear flux rope structures and that ∼ 29% of the database entries are either misidentifications or inadequately measured and should be discarded from statistical analyses. We propose a new definition for flux rope CMEs (FR-CMEs) as a coherent magnetic, twist-carrying coronal structure with angular width of at least 40 • and able to reach beyond 10 R which erupts on a time scale of a few minutes to several hours We conclude that flux ropes are a common occurrence in CMEs and pose a challenge for future studies to identify CMEs that are clearly not FR-CMEs.

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Understanding the connection between coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and their interplanetary counterparts (ICMEs) is one of the most important problems in solar-terrestrial physics. We calculate the rotation of erupting field structures predicted by numerical simulations of CME initiation via the magnetic breakout model. In this model, the initial potential magnetic field has a multipolar topology and the system is driven by imposing a shear flow at the photospheric boundary. Our results yield insight on how to connect solar observations of the orientation of the filament or polarity inversion line (PIL) in the CME source region, the orientation of the CME axis as inferred from coronagraph images, and the ICME flux rope orientation obtained from in situ measurements. We present the results of two numerical simulations that differ only in the direction of the applied shearing motions (i.e., the handedness of the sheared-arcade systems and their resulting CME fields). In both simulations, eruptive flare reconnection occurs underneath the rapidly expanding sheared fields transforming the ejecta fields into three-dimensional flux rope structures. As the erupting flux ropes propagate through the low corona (from 2 to 4 R) the right-handed breakout flux rope rotates clockwise and the left-handed breakout flux rope rotates counterclockwise, in agreement with recent observations of the rotation of erupting filaments. We find that by 3.5 R the average rotation angle between the flux rope axes and the active region PIL is approximately 50 •. We discuss the implications of these results for predicting, from the observed chirality of the pre-eruption filament and/or other properties of the CME source region, the direction and amount of rotation that magnetic flux rope structures will experience during eruption. We also discuss the implications of our results for CME initiation models.

Abstract. In this paper we study the occurrence rate and solar origin of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) using data from the two Solar TErrestrial RElation Observatory (STEREO) and the Wind spacecraft. We perform a statistical survey of ICMEs during the late declining phase of solar cycle 23. Observations by multiple, well-separated spacecraft show that even at the time of extremely weak solar activity a considerable number of ICMEs were present in the interplanetary medium. Soon after the beginning of the STEREO science mission in January 2007 the number of ICMEs declined to less than one ICME per month, but in late 2008 the ICME rate clearly increased at each spacecraft although no apparent increase in the number of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) occurred. We suggest that the near-ecliptic ICME rate can increase due to CMEs that have been guided towards the equator from their high-latitude source regions by the magnetic fields in the polar coronal holes. We consider two case studies to highlight the effects of the polar magnetic fields and CME deflection taking advantage of STEREO observations when the two spacecraft were in the quadrature configuration (i.e. separated by about 90 degrees). We study in detail the solar and interplanetary consequences of two CMEs that both originated from high-latitude source regions on 2 November 2008. The first CME was slow (radial speed 298 km/s) and associated with a huge polar crown prominence eruption. The CME was guided by polar coronal hole fields to the equator and it produced a clear flux rope ICME in the near-ecliptic solar wind. The second CME (radial speed 438 km/s) originated from an active region 11007 at latitude 35° N. This CME propagated clearly north of the first CME and no interplanetary consequences were identified. The two case studies suggest that slow and elongated CMEs have difficulties overcoming the straining effect of the overlying field and as a consequence they are guided by the polar coronal fields and cause in-situ effects close to the ecliptic plane. The 3-D propagation directions and CME widths obtained by using the forward modelling technique were consistent with the solar and in-situ observations.

[1] Potential field source surface models of the coronal magnetic field, based on Mt. Wilson Observatory synoptic magnetograms, are used to infer the coronal hole sources of low-heliolatitude solar wind over approximately the last three solar cycles. Related key parameters like interplanetary magnetic field and bulk velocity are also calculated. The results illustrate how the evolving contribution of the polar hole sources relative to that from low-latitude and midlatitude active region hole sources can explain solar magnetic field control of long-term interplanetary variations. In particular, the enduring consistent magnetogram record and continuous model displays produce a useful overview of the solar control of interplanetary cycles and trends that affect space weather.