Observations of an Emerging Flux Region Surge: Implications for Coronal Mass Ejections Triggered by Emerging Flux

It is well known that coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are often associated with flares and filament eruptions. Previous studies of CMEs, however, have not established any association between CMEs and surges. In this paper, we present a detailed analysis of a large emerging flux region (EFR) surge and a jetlike CME, both observed on 1998 April 16. Our analysis shows a close temporal and spatial relationship between the two. Using observations from the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) and Hida Flare Monitoring Telescope (Ha, Ha c 0.8 AA), we found that the CME's onset time and central position angle were coincident with the surge features. Magnetograms and Ha filtergrams showed that the surge resulted from the successive emergence of a bipolar sunspot group, NOAA Active Region 8203, which was the only active region in the northern hemisphere. The surge was impulsively accelerated at around the peak time of the GOES SXR flux. The associated CME appeared in the field of view of LASCO C2 16 minutes after the surge disappeared. Importantly, observations from the EUV Imaging Telescope at l195 AA clearly demonstrate topological changes in the coronal field due to its interaction with the EFR. An initially closed EFR-loop system opened up during the surge. There was no filament involved in this surge-CME event. We propose that the onset of the CME resulted from the significant restructuring of the large-scale coronal magnetic field as a result of flux emergence in the active region. This surge-CME event strongly suggests that emerging flux may not only trigger a surge but also simultaneously trigger a CME by means of small-scale reconnection in the lower atmosphere.