First results from Solar Orbiter and Bepi Colombo on solar coronal mass ejections

Launched in February 2020, the magnetometer on Solar Orbiter has started taking data in April 2020 and immediately observed a stealth coronal mass ejection in situ on 19 April 2020, at 0.8 AU and only 4° away from the Sun-Earth line. In situ measurements by Bepi Colombo and Wind and imaging observations by STEREO-A and SOHO make this a rare triple point in situ / double point imaging event and allows to model the magnetic structure of this CME with strong constraints. The EPD particle instrument also observed the event and made mulitpoint modeling of the Forbush decrease possible.

A few other ICME events and many high speed streams were observed by Solar Orbiter during its first two orbits, among them an encounter of two ICMEs enveloping the heliospheric current sheet and interacting with a high speed stream. I will also talk about the expectations for the ICME rates for the upcoming solar cycle 25, opening up the possibility to cross an ICME flux rope twice with Parker Solar Probe close to the Sun and give an outlook for new missions relevant for this field that are expected to launch until 2030.