Interplanetary shocks preceded by solar filament eruptions

We discuss the solar and interplanetary characteristics of six interplanetary shock and energetic particle events associated with the eruptions of solar filaments lying outside active regions. The events are characterized by the familiar double-ribbon Hα brightenings observed with large flares, but only very weak soft X ray and microwave bursts. Both impulsive phases and metric type II bursts are absent in all six events. The energetic particles observed near the earth appear to be accelerated predominantly in the interplanetary shocks. The interplanetary shock speeds are lower and the longitudinal extents considerably less than those of flare-associated shocks. Three of the events were associated with unusual enhancements of singly ionized helium in the solar wind following the shocks. These enhancements appear to be direct detections of the cool filament material expelled from the corona. We suggest that these events are part of a spectrum of solar eruptive events which include both weaker events and large flares. Despite their unimpressive and unreported solar signatures, the quiescent filament eruptions can result in substantial space and geophysical disturbances