Evidence For Internal Tether-cutting in a Flare/CME Event.

The relationship between eruptive flares and CMEs is a topic of ongoing debate, especially regarding the possibility of a common initiation mechanism. In order to gain new physical insight into this problem, the kinematic and hydrodynamic properties of a well-observed event were studied using data from MESSENGER, RHESSI and STEREO/Secchi. These data were compared to three theoretical models to determine the event's initiation mechanism. The timing and positioning of EUV and X-ray sources along with evidence for pre-eruption particle acceleration led to the conclusion that the event was initiated by the internal tether-cutting mechanism and was followed by breakout reconnection some 10 minutes after launch.