Ultraviolet Spectroscopy of Narrow CMEs

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are commonly described as new, discrete, bright features appearing in the field of view of a white light coronagraph and moving outward over a period of minutes to hours. Apparent angular widths of the CMEs cover a wide range, from few to 360°. The very narrow structures (narrower than ~15-20°) form only a small subset of all the observed CMEs and are usually referred to as rays, spikes, fans, etc. Recently, Gilbert et al. (2001, ApJ, 550, 1093) reported LASCO white light observations of 15 selected narrow CMEs. We extended the study and analyzed ultraviolet spectroscopy of narrow ejections, including several events listed by Gilbert et al. The data were obtained by the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS/SOHO). We present comparison of narrow and large CMEs and discuss the relation of the narrow CMEs to coronal jets and/or other narrow transient events. This work is supported by NASA under Grant NAG5-11420 to the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, by the Italian Space Agency and by PRODEX (Swiss contribution).