Signatures of the Interplanetary Helium Cone Reflected by Pick-up Ions

As known for a long time, interstellar wind neutral helium atoms deeply penetrate into the inner heliosphere and, when passing through the solar gravity field, form a strongly pronounced helium density cone in the downwind direction. Helium atoms are photoionized and picked-up by the solar wind magnetic field, but as pick-up ions they are not simply convected outwards with the solar wind in radial directions as assumed in earlier publications. Rather they undergo a complicated diffusion-convection process described here by an appropriate kinetic transport equation taking into account adiabatic cooling and focusing, pitch angle scattering and energy diffusion. In this paper, we solve this equation for He⁺pick-up ions which are injected into the solar wind mainly in the region of the helium cone. We show the resulting He⁺pick-up ion density profile along the orbit of the Earth in many respects differs from the density profile of the neutral helium cone: depending on solar-wind-entrained Alfvénic turbulence levels, the density maximum when looking from the Earth to the Sun is shifted towards the right side of the cone, the ratio of peak-densities to wing-densities varies and a left-to-right asymmetry of the He⁺-density profile is pronounced. Derivation of interstellar helium parameters from these He⁺-structures, such as the local interstellar medium (LISM) wind direction, LISM velocity and LISM temperature, are very much impeded. In addition, the pitch-angle spectrum of He⁺pick-up ions systematically becomes more anisotropic when passing from the left to the right wing of the cone structure. All effects mentioned are more strongly pronounced in high velocity solar wind compared to the low velocity solar wind.     

Interaction of interstellar pick-up ions with the solar wind

The interaction of interstellar pick-up ions with the solar wind is studied by comparing a model for the velocity distribution function of pick-up ions with actual measurements of He⁺ ions in the solar wind. The model includes the effects of pitch-ang'e diffusion due to interplanetary Alfvén waves, adiabatic deceleration in the expanding solar wind and the radial variation of the source function. It is demonstrated that the scattering mean free path is in the range 0.1 AU and that energy diffusion can be neglected as compared with adiabatic deceleration. The effects of adiabatic focusing, of the radial variation of the neutral density and of a variation of the solar wind velocity with distance from the Sun are investigated. With the correct choice of these parameters we can model the measured energy spectra of the pick-up ions reasonably well. It is shown that the measured differential energy density of the pick-up ions does not vary with the solar wind velocity and the direction of the interplanetary magnetic field for a given local neutral gas density and ionization rate. Therefore, the comparison of the model distributions with the measurements leads to a quantitative determination of the local interstellar gas density.Paper dedicated to Professor Hannes Alfvén on the occasion of his 80th birthday, 30 May 1988.     

Proton Irradiation of Centaur,Kuiper Belt,and Oort Cloud Objects at Plasma to Cosmic Ray Energy

Times for accumulation of chemically significant dosages on icy surfaces of Centaur, Kuiper Belt, and Oort Cloud objects from plasma and energetic ions depend on irradiation position within or outside the heliosphere. Principal irradiation components include solar wind plasma ions, pickup ions from solar UV ionization of interstellar neutral gas, energetic ions accelerated by solar and interplanetary shocks, including the putative solar wind termination shock, and galactic cosmic ray ions from the Local Interstellar Medium (LISM). We present model flux spectra derived from spacecraft data and models for eV to GeV protons at 40 AU, a termination shock position at 85 AU, and in the LISM. Times in years to accumulate dosages ～100 eV per molecule are computed from the spectra as functions of sensible surface depth less than one centimeter at unit density.The collisional resurfacing model of Luu and Jewitt is reconsidered in thecontext of depth-dependent dosage rates from plasma, suprathermal,and higher energy protons, and global exposure, by micrometeoroiddust grain impacts, of moderately irradiated red material below athin crust of heavily irradiated neutral material. This material should be more visible on dynamically `cold’ objects in the ～40 AU region.     

Velocity of the local interstellar medium relative to the sun from interstellar helium flux measurements onboard the Ulysses and IBEX spacecraft

The question of determining the relative velocity of the local interstellar medium (LISM) based on direct interstellar helium flux measurements in the Solar system is considered. Such measurements were made onboard the Ulysses spacecraft in 1990–2007 at a distance of 2–5 AU from the Sun and have been made from 2009 to the present day onboard the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft at the Earth’s orbit. Recent works on analyzing the IBEX measurements have shown that the LISM velocity relative to the Sun determined from the IBEX data differs in magnitude (by ≈3 km s^?1) and direction (by ≈4°) from the LISM velocity obtained previously by Witte based on Ulysses measurements. We have modeled the Ulysses data (including the 2007 data that have not been considered previously by anybody) by taking into account various LISM velocity vectors and compare our numerical simulations with experimental data. The LISM velocity vector derived from the IBEX data is shown to contradict the Ulysses data in the position of the measured interstellar helium flux maximum on the sky map. In addition, the position of the flux maximum is shown to be determined exclusively by the LISM velocity vector and to be independent of other model parameters (the LISM temperature and ionization rate). This means that the Ulysses data (including the 2007 data obtained only two years before the IBEX measurements) cannot be explained in terms of the existing models with the LISM velocity vector from the IBEX data. Possible reasons for the detected contradictions are discussed.     

Properties of energetic water-group ions in the extended pick-up region surrounding comet Giacobini-Zinner

The properties of energetic (65–95 keV) cometary water-group ions in the extended solar wind pick-up region surrounding comet Giacobini-Zinner are examined using data from the EPAS instrument on the ICE spacecraft. In the outer part of this region, extending from cometocentric distances of several hundred thousand to a few million kilometres (the limit of pick-up ion detectability), it is found that large modulations of the ion flux occur (with J_MAX/J_MIN 10²-10³) which are related to the direction of the magnetic field. It is also found that the ions stream in a direction which is intermediate between the directions of the solar wind flow and the E × B drift, and that ions are present at energies somewhat above the local pick-up energy. These properties indicate that the waves which are excited by the unstable “ring-beam” pick-up ion velocity distributions do result in significant scattering of the ions in this region, both in pitch angle and in energy, but that they have insufficient amplitude to scatter the ions into near isotropy in the solar wind frame. Closer to the comet (but still upstream from the bow shock), the ion flux modulations are considerably reduced in amplitude and the ions respond less to the E × B drift, indicating that the ions are scattered nearer to isotropy in this region. Inbound, this transition takes place relatively abruptly at a distance of 4 × 10⁵ km in association with an increase in the solar wind speed, after which the ion flux increases, and ceases to be modulated by the field direction, while the streaming direction is continuously antisolar and unmodulated by the direction of the E × B drift. Outbound, weak vestiges of the ring-beam ion anisotropy are present in the region immediately upstream from the bow shock (at −1 × 10⁵ km), but these become more marked at distances in excess of t4 × 10⁵ km, increasing gradually with increasing distance from the comet. It is shown that the evolution of the ion properties is qualitatively consistent with expectations based on quasi-linear diffusion of the ions by the magnetosonic waves observed during the encounter.     

Pickup interstellar helium ions in the region of the solar gravitational cone

Our numerical analyses of the velocity and spatial distributions of pickup interstellar helium ions in the region of the solar gravitational cone in the ecliptic plane at a distance of 1 AU show that the ion density maximum must be displaced relative to the neutral helium cone axis in the direction of the Earth’s revolution around the Sun. The solar wind parameters in the numerical model correspond to their observed values during the crossing of the helium cone by the ACE spacecraft in 1998. At these parameters, the calculated angular displacement is 5°. The absence of a similar displacement in the ACE measurements is shown to stem from the fact that the spectrometer onboard ACE records and identifies only a fraction of the pickup helium ions with fairly high magnitudes and certain directions of the velocities.     

Pick-up Ion Measurements in the Heliosphere – A Review

Measurements of the composition and spatial distribution of pick-up ions inside the heliosphere are reviewed. The first interstellar ⁴He⁺pick-up ions were detected with the SULEICA instrument on the AMPTE spacecraft near Earth's orbit. Most data on pick-up ions were taken in the solar-wind and suprathermal energy range of SWICS on Ulysses while the spacecraft cruised from 1.4 to 5.4 AU and explored the high-latitude heliosphere and solar wind from the ecliptic to ± 80^° heliolatitude. This includes the discovery of H⁺, ⁴He⁺⁺, ³He⁺, N⁺,O⁺, and Ne⁺ pick-up ions that originate from the interstellar neutralgas penetrating the heliosphere. From their fluxes properties of the interaction region between the heliosphere and the Local Interstellar Cloud such as the limits on filtration and the strength of the interstellar magnetic field have been revealed. Detailed analysis of the velocity distributions of pick-up ions led to 1) the discovery of a new distinct source, the so-called Inner Source, consisting of atoms released from interstellar and interplanetary dust inside the heliosphere, 2) the determination of pick-up ion transport parameters such as the long mean free path for pitch-angle scattering of order1 AU, and 3) detailed knowledge on the very preferential injection and acceleration of pick-up ions during interplanetary energetic particle events such as Co-rotating Interaction Regions and Coronal Mass Ejections. SWICS measurements have fully confirmed the theory of Fisk, Koslovsky, and Ramaty that pick-up ions derived from the interstellar gas are the dominant source of the Anomalous Cosmic Rays; they are pre-accelerated inside the heliosphere and re-accelerated at the solar-wind Termination Shock according to Pesses, Eichler, and Jokipii. The data indicate that the Inner Source of pick-up ionsis largely responsible for the occurence of C⁺ in the Anomalous Cosmic Rays. The abundances of recently discovered Inner-Source Mg⁺ and Si⁺ are solar-wind like and consistent with their abundances in the energetic particles associated with Co-rotating Interaction Regions. Knowledge on the injection and acceleration processes in Co-rotating Interaction Regions is applied to discuss the current observational evidence for the Interplanetary Focusing Cone of the interstellar neutral gas due to the Sun's gravitational force. The 25–150 keV/amu suprathermal ⁴He⁺ pick-up ion fluxes measured by CELIAS/STOF on board SOHO over 360^° of ecliptic longitude represent a `local' ionization and acceleration of interstellar atoms at 1 AU or smaller heliocentric distances. Completing the first limited data set of SULEICA/AMPTE on ⁴He⁺ pick-up ions they indicate a density enhancement in the Interplanetary Focusing Cone which is confirmed by recent SWICS/ACE data. Clear evidence for signatures in ecliptic longitude are found in the data on energetic neutral H fluxes observed with the CELIAS/HSTOF sensor on board SOHO. These fluxes are enhanced in the upstream and downstream directions of the interstellar wind. Detection of energetic H atoms, which propagate unaffected by the Heliospheric Magnetic Field, provided for the first time a diagnostic tool for observations near Earth to analyze the structure in ecliptic longitude of the interface region between the heliosphere and the Local Interstellar Cloud. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Acceleration of Pick-up Ions at the Solar Wind Termination Shock

It is generally accepted that pick-up ions act as a seed population for anomalous cosmic rays originating at the solar wind termination shock. We believe that the ion pre-acceleration process operating in the heliosphere up to the termination shock can be very important to inject the ions into the shock acceleration process. The pick-up ions pre-accelerated by solar wind turbulences have already a pronounced high energy tail when they reach the shock. Some fraction of these ions can experience further acceleration up to energies of anomalous cosmic rays by means of shock drift and diffusive acceleration. In the present paper the shock drift acceleration of pick-up ions suffering multiple reflection due to abrupt changes in both the strength and direction of the magnetic field through the shock is considered. The reflection process operates for high velocity particles different from the reflection by the electric cross-shock potential. During the first reflection the mean kinetic energy of pick-up ions increases by approximately a factor of 10. Reflected particles have highly anisotropic velocity distribution. Subsequent excursion of the particles in the turbulent upstream flow leads to diffusion in pitch-angle space and, as a result, the particles can return to the shock again suffering, thus, multiple encounters. In order to describe the motion of particles in the upstream and down streamparts of the flow we solve the Fokker-Plank transport equation for anisotropic velocity distribution function. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

On the state of ionization of the local interstellar medium

The abundance ratio of neutral hydrogen to helium, as deduced from interplanetary observations of Lyman-alpha and He 584 Å radiation by Mariner 10, is significantly lower than the cosmic abundance ratio of these elements, thus showing that the local interstellar medium (LISM) is partly ionized. The effect of various sources of ionization — especially electron impact and EUV photon flux — on hydrogen and helium is discussed. It is shown that the observational data on the temperature of the LISM, on the diffuse EUV flux and on the neutral and electron densities in the nearby interstellar medium (NISM) are not all compatible. However, if the diffuse EUV flux below 912 Å as deduced from the preliminary analysis of Voyager observations is not representative, then it is easy to reconcile all observations. In this case an important source of ionization of the LISM would be electron impact, yielding an ionization degree of about 50% for the hydrogen component.     

The heliospheric plasma tail under the influence of charge exchange processes with interstellar H atoms

The relative motion of the solar system with respect to the ambient interstellar medium is known to form a plasma interface region where the subsonic interstellar and solar wind plasma flows adapt to a pressure equilibrium surface, called the heliopause. Inside this discontinuity surface the solar plasma is deflected from the upwind to the downwind side, finally escaping from the solar system along a heliospheric tail. Due to continuous charge exchange interactions with interstellar H atoms entering from the tailward flanks of the heliopause tail plasma, originating from shocked solar wind, changes its thermodynamic character by cooling and deceleration while passing along the tail to larger downstream distances. Here we describe this charge-exchange-induced modification of the tail plasma up to a final assimilation into the interstellar plasma. On the other hand neutral H atoms are produced by means of charge exchange interactions in the heliotail with velocities by which these atoms are shot back into the inner heliosphere. We calculate the velocity distribution of such H atoms entering the inner heliosphere from the downwind direction and study their contribution to the H-pick-up ion production in the downwind region. As we show in this paper, total H-pick-up ion production rates in the downwind region are dominated by ionization of such anti-tailward H atoms within the orbit of the earth. They also dominate the pick-up ion energy spectrum beyond 4keV at distances between 1 and 10AU.     

Physics and Gasdynamics of the Heliospheric Interface

During 30 years, a big theoretical effort to understand the physical processes in the heliospheric interface has followed the pioneer papers by Parker (1961) and Baranov et al. (1971). The heliospheric interface is a shell formed by the solar wind interaction with the ionized component of the circumsolar local interstellar medium (LISM). For fully ionized supersonic interstellar plasma two-shocks (the termination shock and the bow shock) and a contact discontinuity (the heliopause) are formed in the solar wind/LISM interaction. However, LISM consists of at least of three components additional to plasma: H-atoms, galactic cosmic rays and magnetic field. The interstellar atoms that penetrate into the solar wind, are ionized there and form pickup ions. A part of the pickup ions is accelerated to high energies of anomalous cosmic rays (ACRs). ACRs may modify the plasma flow upstream the termination shock and in the heliosheath. In this short review I summarize current understanding of the physical and gasdynamical processes in the heliospheric interface, outline unresolved problems and future perspectives. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Sources of sodium in the lunar exosphere: Modeling using ground-based observations of sodium emission and spacecraft data of the plasma

Observations of the equatorial lunar sodium emission are examined to quantify the effect of precipitating ions on source rates for the Moon’s exospheric volatile species. Using a model of exospheric sodium transport under lunar gravity forces, the measured emission intensity is normalized to a constant lunar phase angle to minimize the effect of different viewing geometries. Daily averages of the solar Lyman α flux and ion flux are used as the input variables for photon-stimulated desorption (PSD) and ion sputtering, respectively, while impact vaporization due to the micrometeoritic influx is assumed constant. Additionally, a proxy term proportional to both the Lyman α and to the ion flux is introduced to assess the importance of ion-enhanced diffusion and/or chemical sputtering. The combination of particle transport and constrained regression models demonstrates that, assuming sputtering yields that are typical of protons incident on lunar soils, the primary effect of ion impact on the surface of the Moon is not direct sputtering but rather an enhancement of the PSD efficiency. It is inferred that the ion-induced effects must double the PSD efficiency for flux typical of the solar wind at 1 AU. The enhancement in relative efficiency of PSD due to the bombardment of the lunar surface by the plasma sheet ions during passages through the Earth’s magnetotail is shown to be approximately two times higher than when it is due to solar wind ions. This leads to the conclusion that the priming of the surface is more efficiently carried out by the energetic plasma sheet ions.     

On acceleration and motion of ions in corona and solar wind

Assuming a stationary, radial, spherically symmetric solar wind and a radial magnetic field direction in the vicinity of the sun, an equation of motion for ions heavier than protons in the solar wind is derived. The general properties of this equation are discussed and the results of numerical integrations are given. These results are based on the assumption of maxwellian velocity distribution functions for electrons, protons and ions, but the effects of first order deviations from such distributions are also presented and discussed. It is shown that dynamical friction, i.e. momentum transfer from protons to heavier ions accounts for the observed fact that heavier ions - if accelerated at all - normally reach the same velocity as the protons in the solar wind. Because of the non-linear relation between dynamical friction and proton-ion velocity difference a minimum proton flux is required to carry a certain ion species in the solar wind. Formulae comparing the minimum fluxes for different ions are given. It is shown that elements up to and beyond iron will be carried along in the solar wind as long as helium is carried along. Substantial isotopic fractionation is possible, in particular in the case of helium. The effects of ion motion and escape on abundances in the corona and in the outer convective zone of the sun are discussed.     

An axisymmetric magnetohydrodynamic model for the interaction of the solar wind with the local interstellar medium

We numerically analyze a magnetohydrodynamic, steady-state model for the interaction of a spherically symmetric solar wind with a three-component local interstellar medium (LISM), which is composed of plasma, hydrogen atoms, and a magnetic field. The magnetic field is assumed to be parallel to the velocity in the LISM. In this case, the model is axisymmetric. We study the effects of magnetic field on the plasma-flow geometry and on the distribution of hydrogen-atom parameters. In particular, we show that the presence of hydrogen atoms does not affect the qualitative change in the shape of the bow shock, the heliopause, and the solar-wind shock with increasing strength of the interstellar magnetic field. The presence of a magnetic field in the LISM can strongly affect the parameters of the energetic hydrogen atoms originated in the solar wind, although its effect on the “hydrogen wall” observed with the GHRS instrument onboard the HST spacecraft (Linsky and Wood 1996) is marginal.     

The Multifluid Character of the `Baranov' Interface

Since about three decades now it is clearly recognized that the interaction of the solar system with the ambient interstellar medium flow mainly is characterized by its hydrodynamic nature invoking structures like the inner shock, the heliopause and the outer shock with plasma sheath regions in between. After the pioneering works by Eugene Parker and Vladimir Baranov the main outlines of this interaction scenario were established, while some discussion on location and geometry of these structures is still going on till now. Fundamentally new aspects of this interaction problem have meanwhile appeared calling for new and more consistent calculations. The revisions of the earlier interaction concept starts with the neutral LISM gas component passing through the solar system. At the occasion of ionizations of this component a medium-energetic plasma component in form of keV-energetic pick-up ions is created. This component changes the distant solar wind properties by mass-, momentum-, and energy-loading, by wave generation and lowering the solar wind Mach numbers. Furthermore pick-up ions serve as a seed population for a high-energetic plasma population with energies between 10 and 100 MeV/nuc called anomalous cosmic rays. This latter component by means of its pressure gradient not only modifies the solar wind flow but also modulates its termination shock. In this paper it is shown how the main features of the enlarged interaction scenario change if the above mentioned multifluid character of the scenario is taken into account. While now we present a `multicolour vision' of the interacting heliosphere, it should never be forgotten that these modern views only were possible due to the fundamental `black-and-white vision' already presented by Baranov in the seventieths. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Formation of higher harmonics of the galactic cosmic-ray distribution function

We derive equations for the multipole moments of the distribution function of Galactic cosmic rays with energies 1–20 TeV that experience random scattering by turbulence with a power-law spectrum. We take into account the irregularity of the local interstellar medium (LISM) in the neighborhood of the solar system due to the presence of interstellar clouds, the interstellar wind flow around the heliomagnetosphere, and preceding supernova explosions in the local superbubble. The amplitudes of the second and third harmonics of the cosmic-ray distribution function are expressed in terms of the amplitude of the first harmonic without assuming them to be small compared to the first harmonic. Reconciling their values in magnitude and phase with the observed values requires a significant LISM irregularity, which is consistent with other observational data on the LISM structure. Our model is consistent with the assumption that supernova remnants in the Galactic disk located at distances from the Solar system much larger than the particle transport mean free path are the sources of the particles under consideration.     

Fluctuations in the heliospheric hydrogen distribution induced by generalized and time-dependent interstellar boundary conditions

It is well known that the neutral component of the local interstellar medium can effectively pass through the plasma interface ahead of the solar system and can penetrate deeply into the inner heliosphere. Here we present a newly-developed theoretical approach to describe the distribution function of LISM neutral hydrogen in the heliosphere, also taking into account time-dependent solar and interstellar boundary conditions. For this purpose we start from a Boltzmann-Vlasov equation, Fourier-transformed with respect to space and time coordinates, in connection with correspondingly transformed solar radiation forces and ionization rates, and then arrive at semi-analytic solutions for the transformed hydrogen velocity distribution function. As interstellar boundary conditions we allow for very general, non-Maxwellian and time-dependent distribution functions to account for the case that some LISM turbulence patterns or nonlinear wave-like shock structures pass over the solar system. We consider this theoretical approach to be an ideal instrument for the synoptic interpretation of huge data samples on interplanetary Ly- resonance glow intensities registered from different celestial directions over extended periods of time. In addition we feel that the theoretical approach presented here, when applied to interplanetary resonance glow data, may permit the detection of genuine fluctuations in the local interstellar medium.     

Global Energy Transfer from Pick-up Ions to Solar Wind Protons

It has been known for years now that pick-up ions (PUIs) are produced by ionization of interstellar neutral atoms in the heliosphere and are then convected outwards with the solar wind flow as a separate suprathermal ion fluid. Only poorly known is the thermal behaviour of these pick-ups while being convected outwards. On the one hand they drive waves since their distribution function is unstable with respect to wave growth, on the other hand they also experience Fermi-2 energizations by nonlinear wave-particle interactions with convected wave turbulences. Here we will show that this complicated network of interwoven processes can quantitatively be balanced when adequate use is made of transport-kinetic results according to which pick-up ions essentially behave isothermally at their convection to large solar distances. We derive the adequate heat source necessary to maintain this pick-up ion isothermy and use the negative of that source to formulate the enthalpy flow conservation for solar wind protons (SWPs). This takes care of a consistent PUI-induced heat source guaranteeing that the net energy balance in the SWP–PUI two-fluid plasma is satisfied. With this PUI-induced heat input to SWPs we not only obtain the well-observed SWP polytropy, but we can also derive an expression for the percentage of intitial pick-up energy fed into the thermal proton energy. By a first-order evaluation of this expression we then can estimate that, dependent on the actual PUI temperature, about 40 to 50% of the initial pick-up energy is globally passed to solar protons within the inner heliosphere.     

Solar wind interaction with interstellar helium

Solar wind interaction with neutral interstellar helium focused by the Sun's gravity in the downwind solar cavity is discussed in a hydrodynamical approach. Upon ionization the helium atoms “picked up” by the (single fluid) solar wind plasma cause a slight decrease in the wind speed and a corresponding marked temperature increase. For neutral helium density outside the cavity n_He^∞ = 0.01 atoms cm^?3 and for interstellar kinetic temperature T_He= 10,000 K, the reduction is speed of the solar wind on the downwind axis at 10 AU from the Sun amounts to about 2kms^?1; the solar wind temperature excess attains 7000 K. The resulting pressure excess leads to a non-radial flow of the order of 0.25 km s^?1. The possibility of experimental confirmation is discussed.     

The influence of pick-up ion-induced wave pressures on the dynamics of the mass-loaded solar wind

The solar wind at larger distances is known to be a multicomponent plasma. The different components, solar ions, pick-up ions, and anomalous ions, are without collisional coupling but they are all coupled to the intrinsic wave turbulences by nonlinear wave-particle interactions. Since quite a long time it is not understood why dynamical processes associated with the loading of the primary solar wind by secondary pick-up ions neither lead to a recognizable heating nor to a deceleration of the solar wind at larger distances. While the inefficient heating seems to be explained by the fact that pick-up ions do not assimilate quickly enough to the solar wind distribution function, the unobservable deceleration of the distant solar wind always remained mysterious. Different from all theoretical approaches up to now, here we intend to show that the wave-induced pick-up ion pressure has to be introduced into the equations of motion in an adequate non-polytropic form to correctly describe the multicomponent plasma dynamics. If this is done it becomes clear that the deceleration of the solar wind is considerably reduced or even vanishing.