Charge-to-Mass Dependence of the Longitudinal Distribution of Solar Energetic Particles

Studies combining observations from near-Earth spacecraft and the twin STEREO spacecraft have resulted in a number of surprising results regarding the spread of solar energetic particles (SEPs) in longitude. The 7 February 2010 3He-rich event was observed by spacecraft spread over 136 degrees, extending far beyond the expected longitudinal extent of such events whose origins are compact flaring regions on the Sun. Intensities of 25 MeV protons from the 3 November 2011 SEP event increased abruptly at all three spacecraft with onsets occurring within 30 minutes of each other even though the spacecraft were roughly equally distributed in longitude around the Sun. These types of observations challenge our understanding of the transport of SEPs. As many transport mechanisms are governed by a particle's rigidity, it is useful to examine the SEP longitude distribution as a function of particles' charge-to-mass ratios. We present the results of such a study using more than 30 large SEP events observed by two or three spacecraft in solar cycle 24.