AUTHOR=Pal Sanchita , Lynch Benjamin J. , Good Simon W. , Palmerio Erika , Asvestari Eleanna , Pomoell Jens , Stevens Michael L. , Kilpua Emilia K. J. TITLE=Eruption and Interplanetary Evolution of a Stealthy Streamer-Blowout CME Observed by PSP at ∼0.5 AU JOURNAL=Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences VOLUME=9 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/astronomy-and-space-sciences/articles/10.3389/fspas.2022.903676 DOI=10.3389/fspas.2022.903676 ISSN=2296-987X ABSTRACT=

Streamer-blowout coronal mass ejections (SBO-CMEs) are the dominant CME population during solar minimum. Although they are typically slow and lack clear low-coronal signatures, they can cause geomagnetic storms. With the aid of extrapolated coronal fields and remote observations of the off-limb low corona, we study the initiation of an SBO-CME preceded by consecutive CME eruptions consistent with a multi-stage sympathetic breakout scenario. From inner-heliospheric Parker Solar Probe (PSP) observations, it is evident that the SBO-CME is interacting with the heliospheric magnetic field and plasma sheet structures draped about the CME flux rope. We estimate that 18 ± 11% of the CME’s azimuthal magnetic flux has been eroded through magnetic reconnection and that this erosion began after a heliospheric distance of ∼0.35 AU from the Sun was reached. This observational study has important implications for understanding the initiation of SBO-CMEs and their interaction with the heliospheric surroundings.