The solar wind in the outer heliosphere
The solar wind evolves as it moves outward due to interactions with both itself and with the circum-heliospheric interstellar medium. The speed is, on average, constant out to 30 AU, then starts a slow decrease due to the pickup of interstellar neutrals. These neutrals reduce the solar wind speed by...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
Springer Science + Business Media B.V.
2011
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/65832 |
| _version_ | 1826192947598589952 |
|---|---|
| author | Richardson, John D. Stone, E. C. |
| author2 | MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research |
| author_facet | MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research Richardson, John D. Stone, E. C. |
| author_sort | Richardson, John D. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The solar wind evolves as it moves outward due to interactions with both itself and with the circum-heliospheric interstellar medium. The speed is, on average, constant out to 30 AU, then starts a slow decrease due to the pickup of interstellar neutrals. These neutrals reduce the solar wind speed by about 20% before the termination shock (TS). The pickup ions heat the thermal plasma so that the solar wind temperature increases outside 20–30 AU. Solar cycle effects are important; the solar wind pressure changes by a factor of 2 over a solar cycle and the structure of the solar wind is modified by interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) near solar maximum. The first direct evidences of the TS were the observations of streaming energetic particles by both Voyagers 1 and 2 beginning about 2 years before their respective TS crossings. The second evidence was a slowdown in solar wind speed commencing 80 days before Voyager 2 crossed the TS. The TS was a weak, quasi-perpendicular shock which transferred the solar wind flow energy mainly to the pickup ions. The heliosheath has large fluctuations in the plasma and magnetic field on time scales of minutes to days. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:31:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/65832 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:31:18Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publisher | Springer Science + Business Media B.V. |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/658322022-09-26T12:01:08Z The solar wind in the outer heliosphere Richardson, John D. Stone, E. C. MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research Richardson, John D. Richardson, John D. The solar wind evolves as it moves outward due to interactions with both itself and with the circum-heliospheric interstellar medium. The speed is, on average, constant out to 30 AU, then starts a slow decrease due to the pickup of interstellar neutrals. These neutrals reduce the solar wind speed by about 20% before the termination shock (TS). The pickup ions heat the thermal plasma so that the solar wind temperature increases outside 20–30 AU. Solar cycle effects are important; the solar wind pressure changes by a factor of 2 over a solar cycle and the structure of the solar wind is modified by interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) near solar maximum. The first direct evidences of the TS were the observations of streaming energetic particles by both Voyagers 1 and 2 beginning about 2 years before their respective TS crossings. The second evidence was a slowdown in solar wind speed commencing 80 days before Voyager 2 crossed the TS. The TS was a weak, quasi-perpendicular shock which transferred the solar wind flow energy mainly to the pickup ions. The heliosheath has large fluctuations in the plasma and magnetic field on time scales of minutes to days. United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (contract 959203) United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (grant NAG5-8947) 2011-09-14T15:07:05Z 2011-09-14T15:07:05Z 2008-10 2008-05 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0038-6308 1572-9672 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/65832 Richardson, J. D., and E. C. Stone. “The Solar Wind in the Outer Heliosphere.” Space Science Reviews 143 (2008): 7-20. en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11214-008-9443-z Space Science Reviews Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf Springer Science + Business Media B.V. Richardson |
| spellingShingle | Richardson, John D. Stone, E. C. The solar wind in the outer heliosphere |
| title | The solar wind in the outer heliosphere |
| title_full | The solar wind in the outer heliosphere |
| title_fullStr | The solar wind in the outer heliosphere |
| title_full_unstemmed | The solar wind in the outer heliosphere |
| title_short | The solar wind in the outer heliosphere |
| title_sort | solar wind in the outer heliosphere |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/65832 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT richardsonjohnd thesolarwindintheouterheliosphere AT stoneec thesolarwindintheouterheliosphere AT richardsonjohnd solarwindintheouterheliosphere AT stoneec solarwindintheouterheliosphere |