PLASMA IN THE HELIOSHEATH: 3.5 YEARS OF OBSERVATIONS

Voyager 2 (V2) has observed heliosheath (HSH) plasma since 2007 August. We describe how the plasma has evolved across the HSH. We show that the low solar wind dynamic pressure leads to an inward movement of the termination shock (TS) of about 10 AU to a minimum position of 73 AU in 2010. Near the TS...

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Main Authors: Wang, C., Richardson, John D.
Other Authors: MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: IOP Publishing 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/95660
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author Wang, C.
Richardson, John D.
author2 MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
author_facet MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
Wang, C.
Richardson, John D.
author_sort Wang, C.
collection MIT
description Voyager 2 (V2) has observed heliosheath (HSH) plasma since 2007 August. We describe how the plasma has evolved across the HSH. We show that the low solar wind dynamic pressure leads to an inward movement of the termination shock (TS) of about 10 AU to a minimum position of 73 AU in 2010. Near the TS large fluctuations are present in the HSH, but these fluctuations decrease as V2 moves further from the TS. The radial speed slowly decreases and the plasma flow slowly turns tailward. The temperature decreases across the HSH. The radial speed in 2011 remains above 100 km s[superscript –1], which implies that V2 is a substantial distance from the heliopause.
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spelling mit-1721.1/956602022-09-30T15:51:06Z PLASMA IN THE HELIOSHEATH: 3.5 YEARS OF OBSERVATIONS Wang, C. Richardson, John D. MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research Richardson, John D. Voyager 2 (V2) has observed heliosheath (HSH) plasma since 2007 August. We describe how the plasma has evolved across the HSH. We show that the low solar wind dynamic pressure leads to an inward movement of the termination shock (TS) of about 10 AU to a minimum position of 73 AU in 2010. Near the TS large fluctuations are present in the HSH, but these fluctuations decrease as V2 moves further from the TS. The radial speed slowly decreases and the plasma flow slowly turns tailward. The temperature decreases across the HSH. The radial speed in 2011 remains above 100 km s[superscript –1], which implies that V2 is a substantial distance from the heliopause. United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Jet Propulsion Laboratory (U.S.). Contract 959203) United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NNX08AE49G) 2015-02-26T16:51:04Z 2015-02-26T16:51:04Z 2011-05 2011-04 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2041-8205 2041-8213 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/95660 Richardson, J. D., and C. Wang. “PLASMA IN THE HELIOSHEATH: 3.5 YEARS OF OBSERVATIONS.” The Astrophysical Journal 734, no. 1 (May 20, 2011): L21. © 2011 The American Astronomical Society en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/734/1/l21 Astrophysical Journal. Letters 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 IOP Publishing American Astronomical Society
spellingShingle Wang, C.
Richardson, John D.
PLASMA IN THE HELIOSHEATH: 3.5 YEARS OF OBSERVATIONS
title PLASMA IN THE HELIOSHEATH: 3.5 YEARS OF OBSERVATIONS
title_full PLASMA IN THE HELIOSHEATH: 3.5 YEARS OF OBSERVATIONS
title_fullStr PLASMA IN THE HELIOSHEATH: 3.5 YEARS OF OBSERVATIONS
title_full_unstemmed PLASMA IN THE HELIOSHEATH: 3.5 YEARS OF OBSERVATIONS
title_short PLASMA IN THE HELIOSHEATH: 3.5 YEARS OF OBSERVATIONS
title_sort plasma in the heliosheath 3 5 years of observations
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/95660
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