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.     

The SEP matter sample and its correlation with gamma-ray observations

The current state of Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) observations above 1 MeV nucl.^–1 is examined and compared to gamma-ray observations to assess the degree to which current understanding of the solar flare process can explain the observations and to delineate directions for future research. The particle acceleration appears to be due to either Fermi-type stochastic processes or flare-generated shock waves, but the available data can not yet distinguish between these two mechanisms. Large SEP events generally show no gamma-ray emission and may be examples of shock acceleration in the corona. The pre-accelerated matter, however, seems to be a mixture of hot (> 10⁶ K) and cold (< 10⁵ K) plasma with an elemental composition enriched with respect to the photosphere in ions of low first ionization potential (< 10 eV) and sometimes enhanced in heavy ions (Z > 10). These enrichments may be due to thermal/ pressure gradient diffusion and neutral gravitational settling. Gamma-ray line emission events are often associated with small, electron rich SEP events, some of which also include heavy ion enhancements. While time profiles of the gamma emission show that electrons and ions can be accelerated promptly (t < 1 s), comparison of the inferred flux of particles at the Sun with SEP observations in space indicate that few of these particles escape. The conditions for SEP release to interplanetary space have yet to be systematically detailed.     

Spatial Distribution of Element Abundances and Ionization States in Solar Energetic-Particle Events

We have studied the spatial and temporal distribution of abundances of chemical elements in large “gradual” solar energetic-particle (SEP) events, and especially the source plasma temperatures, derived from those abundances, using measurements from the Wind and Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft, widely separated in solar longitude. A power-law relationship between abundance enhancements and mass-to-charge ratios [\(A/Q\)] of the ions can be used to determine \(Q\)-values and source plasma temperatures at remote spacecraft with instruments that were not designed for charge-state measurements. We search for possible source variations along the accelerating shock wave, finding one clear case where the accelerating shock wave appears to dispatch ions from \(3.2\pm 0.8~\mbox{MK}\) plasma toward one spacecraft and those from \(1.6\pm 0.2~\mbox{MK}\) plasma toward another, 116^° away. The difference persists for three days and then fades away. Three other SEP events show less-extreme variation in source temperatures at different spacecraft, in one case observed over 222^° in longitude. This initial study shows how the power-law relation between abundance enhancements and ion \(A/Q\)-values provides a new technique to determine \(Q\) and plasma temperatures in the seed population of SEP ions over a broad region of space using remote spacecraft with instruments that were not originally designed for measurements of ionization states.     

Solar wind heavy ions from flare-heated coronal plasma

Information concerning the coronal expansion is carried by solar wind heavy ions. Distinctly different energy-per-charge ion spectra are found in two classes of solar wind having the low kinetic temperatures necessary for E/q resolution of the ion species. Heavy ion spectra which can be resolved are most frequently observed in the low-speed interstream (IS) plasma found between high speed streams; the streams are thought to be coming from coronal holes. Although the sources of the IS plasma are uncertain, the heavy ion spectra found there contain identifiable peaks of O, Si, and Fe ions. Such spectra indicate that the IS ionization state of O is established in coronal gas at T 2.1 × 10⁶ K while that of Fe is frozen in farther out at 1.5 × 10⁶ K. On occasion anomalous spectra are found outside IS flows in solar wind with abnormally depressed local kinetic temperatures. The anomalous spectra contain Fe¹⁶⁺ ions, not usually found in IS flows, and the derived coronal freezing in temperatures are significantly higher; for two of the best cases values of 3.4 × 10⁶ K were found for the O ions and 2.9 × 10⁶ K for Fe ions. The coronal sources of some of these ionizationally hot flows are identified as solar flares. The appearance of abnormally depressed kinetic temperatures in solar wind coming from flare-heated coronal gas lends support to earlier speculation that flares can expel plasma enclosed in magnetic bottles or bubbles. In transit to 1 AU the gas is sufficiently isolated from the hot corona that it cools anomalously.The Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory requests that the publisher identify this article as work performed under the auspices of the Department of Energy.By acceptance of this article, the publisher recognizes that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, royalty-free license to publish or reproduce the published form of this contribution, or to allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes.     

Electro-hydromagnetic waves in a fully ionized gas-II

The propagation of hydromagnetic and low frequency radio waves in all directions in a fully ionized gas containing a magnetic field is examined. For longitudinal and transverse propagation the addition of one extra term in the magneto-ionic formulae (without collisions) accounts for the presence of heavy ions.

The partition of energy of disturbance between kinetic (K) and magnetic (M) for longitudinal propagation of all frequencies is given by

where V is the Alfvén speed. Thus approximate equipartition may exist for some audio- and radio-frequencies in the Earth's exosphere.

Some errors in Paper I of this series are corrected.     

FORMATION OF Ca II LINES IN SOLAR PROMINENCES

We compute the profiles of the resonance lines and infrared triplet of ionized calcium emitted by some representative models of prominences. These models consist of plane-parallel slabs of different temperatures, pressures and thicknesses, standing vertically above the solar surface. These slabs are assumed to be observed at the limb, and to be perpendicular to the line of sight. They are irradiated by the Sun on both sides, and the incoming intensities, at every relevant wavelength, are taken from observations. The model atom includes 3 stages of ionization (Cai, Caii and Caiii) with 5 discrete levels for Caii. We study the relations between emitted intensities and physical properties of the slabs, and compare the intensities emitted in Caii and hydrogen lines for the same set of models. As a result of ionization, the intensity decreases more rapidly with temperature in Caii lines than in Hi lines, so that the ratio of Caii to Hi line intensities may be used as a temperature indicator. The intensity ratio between resonance and infrared lines of Caii depends principally on the optical thickness of the structure. At high pressure and low temperature, the ratio Caii 8542Å/H is found to increase with pressure. This behaviour, which is due to the saturation of H, is opposite to that found by Heasley and Milkey (1978) for low pressures (optically thin structures).     

ION–Neutral Collisions Effect on MHD Surface Waves

The effect of ion–neutral collisions on the propagation of MHD waves and surface waves at a single magnetic interface is investigated. The dispersion equations for MHD waves in a partially ionized medium are derived. There are three damped propagating modes in a uniform unbounded medium: an Alfvén mode, and fast and slow modes. The damping of waves depends on both the collisional frequency and the ionization fraction. Wave damping increases as ionization fraction decreases. Surface waves are discussed in three cases: (a) the incompressible limit, (b) the low plasma, and (c) for parallel propagation. The incompressible limit leads to Alfvén surface waves in a partially ionized medium and the dispersion characteristics are similar to those obtained by Uberoi and Datta. In the low plasma of the Earth's auroral F region there are two damped propagating magnetoacoustic surface waves for =/3. There is only one damped surface mode for =/2, but no surface wave is able to propagate for =0°. For the case of parallel propagation (=0°) the results obtained in the absence of ion-neutral collisions are consistent with the results of Jain and Roberts. It is found that a three-mode structure of damped propagating waves occurs owing to ion–neutral collisions for a comparatively high ionization fraction. For the case of the solar photosphere, where the ionization fraction is low, two weakly damped surface waves are found, though the damping is almost negligible. The pattern of propagation is similar to that found in the case discussed by Jain and Roberts, but the wave speeds are lower due to ion–neutral collisions. The strong collisions tie the ion–neutral species together and reduce the damping.     

A model for heavy ion enhancements in association with 3He-rich events

A model of ³He enrichments, which was proposed recently, is extended to study enhancements of heavy ions in high-energy particles. With weak currents parallel to the ambient magnetic field, oblique ion-acoustic waves and H cyclotron waves can become unstable. The former can have much greater growth rates at frequencies _{3 He} than at _{4 He} near the marginal states of instabilities. The latter can be unstable at _{3 He} for a wide region of plasma parameters. Thus they could cause ³He enrichments through cyclotron resonances. At the same time, these waves can resonate with first or higher harmonics of cyclotron frequencies of many other ions. We investigate these resonant ions for several cases of plasma temperature. This model predicts enhancements of heavy elements and of neutron-rich isotopes at T 10 MK. It shows heavy ion enhancements also at T 4 MK. Clear differences between these two temperatures, however, can be seen in charge states of ions. At T 2 MK, light ions as well as heavy ions can have cyclotron resonances with these waves, which suggests that such low temperatures are excluded.     

Element separation effects in the boundary region of a plasma surrounded by neutral gas

A one-dimensional model is being considered where a fully ionized plasma is separated from a neutral gas by a homogeneous magnetic field directed along the plasma boundary. The plasma and the neutral gas consist of two different types of ions and neutral particles. In a stationary state the outflux of plasma by diffusion across the magnetic field is compensated by an influx of neutrals which are ionized in a partially ionized boundary region. It is found that the ratio between the ion densities in the fully ionized region will in general differ from the density ratio of the two types of neutrals being present in the gas region. This provides a separation mechanism with applications both to cosmical and laboratory plasmas, such as in the following cases:

1. The abundance anomalies in magnetic variable stars and in the solar wind.
2. Separation processes of non-identical ions and neutral atoms in gas blanket systems.

     

On Long-Term Periodicities In The Solar-Wind Ion Density and Speed Measurements During The Period 1973–2000

The ultra-low frequency power spectra (from 1 nHz to 10 Hz) for the solar wind ion density (N) and speed (SWS) measurements taken near 1 AU, have been examined during the period 1973–2000. Although the spectrum shows remarkable peaks at the wavelengths 0.5, 0.7, 1.0, 1.3 years, additional significant peaks of 2.6 yr and 5.6 yr for N and 9.6 yr for SWS are also found. Possible causes are discussed. The 9.6-yr period is not related to the period of the solar activity cycle, but there is some indication of an association with the coronal hole variations in the southern hemisphere of the Sun. The averages of solar wind ion density showed a periodic variation with three nearly equal peaks at intervals of 5.1±0.2 yr. The long-term enhancements in SWS reflect nearly stable variations and a continuously-existing feature in the heliosphere. The observed long periodicities in both N and SWS spectra may be strongly related to, or organized by, the observed variations in the coronal hole areas between northern and southern hemispheres of the Sun. The timing of the maximum peaks in solar ion densities and speeds spectrum is predicted.     

Heavy Ion Abundances in Impulsive Solar Flares: Influence of Pre-Acceleration in a Current Sheet

Competition between stochastic energy gains and collisional energy losses is known to lead to preferential acceleration of heavy ions in flare loops. Ion acceleration in a reconnecting current sheet is shown to mitigate the influence of collisional energy losses on stochastic particle acceleration in impulsive solar flares. This effect decreases the sensitivity of the resulting abundance ratios on initial ion charge states. The resulting abundances are determined by the fact that the energy loss rate falls off rapidly with increasing energy. As an example, the expected Fe/O enhancement ratios are computed and shown to be comparable with those observed with ACE SEPICA in several impulsive flares in 1998. One consequence of the model is that the preferential acceleration of heavy ions can occur only when the plasma gas pressure is large enough, m _e/m _p, which may explain the observed correlation between the heavy ion enrichment and selective ³He acceleration in impulsive flares.     

The acceleration of minor ion species in the solar wind

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics of the flow of minor ion species in the solar wind under the combined influences of gravity, Coulomb friction (with protons), rotational forces (arising from the Sun's rotation and the interplanetary spiral magnetic field) and wave forces (induced in the minor ion flow by Alfvén waves propagating in the solar wind). It is assumed that the solar wind can be considered as a proton-electron plasma which is, to a first approximation, unaffected by the presence of minor ions. In the dense hot region near the Sun Coulomb friction accelerates minor ions outwards against the gravitational force, part of which is cancelled by the charge-separation electric field. Once the initial acceleration has been achieved, wave and rotational forces assist Coulomb friction in further increasing the minor ion speed so that it becomes comparable with, or perhaps even exceeds, the solar wind speed. A characteristic feature of the non-resonant wave force is that it tends to bring the minor ion flow into an equilibrium where the radial speed matches the Alfvén speed relative to the solar wind speed, whereas Coulomb friction and rotational forces tend to bring the flow into an equilibrium where the radial speed of the minor ions equals the solar wind speed. Therefore, provided that there is sufficient wave energy and Coulomb friction is weak, the minor ion speed can be trapped between these two speeds. This inteststing result is in qualitative agreement with observational findings to the effect that the differential flow speed between helium ions and protons is controlled by the ratio of the solar wind expansion time to the ion-proton collision time. If the thermal speeds of the protons and minor ions are small compared to the Alfvén speed, two stable equilibrium speeds can exist because the rapid decrease in the Coulomb cross-section with increasing differential flow speed allows the non-resonant wave force to balance Coulomb friction at more than one ion speed. However, it must be emphasized that resonant wave acceleration and/or strong ion partial pressure gradients are required to achieve radial speeds of minor ions in excess of the proton speed, since, as is shown in Section 4, the non-resonant wave acceleration on protons and minor ions are identical when their radial speeds are the same, with the result that, in the solar wind, non-resonant wave acceleration tends (asymptotically) to equalize minor ion and proton speeds.     

Production, ionization and redistribution of O2 in Saturn's ring atmosphere

Molecular oxygen produced by the decomposition of icy surfaces is ubiquitous in Saturn's magnetosphere. A model is described for the toroidal O₂ atmosphere indicated by the detection of and O⁺ over the main rings. The O₂ ring atmosphere is produced primarily by UV photon-induced decomposition of ice on the sunlit side of the ring. Because O₂ has a long lifetime and interacts frequently with the ring particles, equivalent columns of O₂ exist above and below the ring plane with the scale height determined by the local ring temperature. Energetic particles also decompose ice, but estimates of their contribution over the main rings appear to be very low. In steady state, the O₂ column density over the rings also depends on the relative efficiency of hydrogen to oxygen loss from the ring/atmosphere system with oxygen being recycled on the grain surfaces. Unlike the neutral density, the ion densities can differ on the sunlit and shaded sides due to differences in the ionization rate, the quenching of ions by the interaction with the ring particles, and the northward shift of the magnetic equator relative to the ring plane. Although O⁺ is produced with a significant excess energy, is not. Therefore, should mirror well below those altitudes at which ions were detected. However, scattering by ion-molecule collisions results in much larger mirror altitudes, in ion temperatures that go through a minimum over the B-ring, and in the redistribution of both molecular hydrogen and oxygen throughout the magnetosphere. The proposed model is used to describe the measured oxygen ion densities in Saturn's toroidal ring atmosphere and its hydrogen content. The oxygen ion densities over the B-ring appear to require either significant levels of UV light scattering or ion transmission through the ring plane.     

Note on solar plasma irregularities and plasma instabilities

Observations of interplanetary scintillation of radio sources are used to estimate the size of plasma irregularities down to a distance of about 6 R from the Sun. This is compared with the values of the ion gyro-radius estimated for a range of distance from 1 AU to about 6 R from the Sun. The results of the calculations are discussed in the context of the hypothesis of plasma instability which is invoked to interpret the observations of the scattering of radio waves in the solar corona and of interplanetary scintillations.     

The interpretation of XUV rocket measurements of intensity ratios of solar spectral lines of the lithiumlike ions O vi,Ne viii,and Mg x

A rocket borne spectrometer was flown to measure absolute intensities of extreme ultraviolet spectral lines from the three ions O vi, Ne viii, and Mg x present in the Sun. From these measurements, intensity ratios of lines from O vi, ratios of lines from Ne viii, and ratios of lines from Mg x were formed. These experimental ratios were compared with ratios calculated by using specific theoretical values of the ionization equilibrium in which dielectronic recombination was included in the processes establishing ionization balance. The effects of the electron density and temperature gradient on the temperature distribution of the flux of the spectral lines in the solar atmosphere have been taken into account in the calculations of the ratios. The agreement between the experimental and calculated ratios is good for the ions Ne viii and Mg x and satisfactory for the ion O vi for which the calculated ratio is subject to large uncertainties. A reliable measurement of the electron temperature in the lower corona was obtained from the experimental ratios for Mg x. This experimental temperature is in good agreement with the emission temperature of the spectral lines of Mg x predicted from the theoretical values of the ionization equilibrium. The design and photometric calibration of a new rocket spectrometer developed to measure the intensity ratios over the broad spectral region 50 to 1250 Å are also described.     

Ca II K line profile of the truly quiet Sun

While evaluating the chromospheric variability (solar cycle related or any other) using the Ca II K line (3933.684 Å) as an indicator, an essential prerequisite is the knowledge of the profile of a truly quiet Sun in the integrated light. Such a profile can serve as a bench mark over which enhancements can be measured, particularly when modelling variability. This paper describes how such a K-line profile has been derived for the quiet Sun using disc-integrated light.     

Ion‐ion charge exchange and X‐rays from the winds of hot stars

Charge exchange occurs between charged ions with enough energy to overcome Coulomb repulsion, a condition satisfied for collisions at velocities like those of the winds driven from hot stars by radiation pressure. X‐ray line ratios in some hot stars are inconsistent with those expected from thermal plasmas excited by electron impact. Ion‐ion interactions including charge exchange might be responsible instead if high‐velocity collisions between ions are enabled by the presence of a magnetic field in the wind, suggesting a possible alternative mechanism to the widely accepted instability‐driven shock model. The nature of a plasma in charge‐exchange equilibrium is yet to be determined (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Structure of a Large low-Latitude Coronal Hole

Coronal holes on the Sun are the source of high-speed solar wind streams that produce magnetic disturbances at the Earth. A series of multi-wavelength, multi-instrument observations obtained during the 1996 Whole Sun Month campaign examined a large coronal hole in greater detail than ever before. It appeared on the Sun in August, and extended from the north pole to a large active region in the southern hemisphere. Its physical and magnetic structure and subsequent evolution are described.     

Ion escape from Mars as a function of solar wind conditions: A statistical study

The influence of solar EUV and solar wind conditions on ion escape at Mars is investigated using ion data from the Aspera-3 instrument on Mars Express, combined with solar wind proxy data obtained from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft. A solar EUV flux proxy based on data from the Earth position, scaled and shifted in time for Mars, is used to study relatively long time scale changes related to solar EUV variability. Data from May 2004 until November 2005 has been used. A clear dependence on the strength of the subsolar magnetic field as inferred from MGS measurements is seen in the ion data. The region of significant heavy ion flows is compressed and the heavy ion flux density is higher for high subsolar magnetic field strength. Because of the difference in outflow area, the difference in estimated total outflow is somewhat less than the difference in average flux density. We confirm previous findings that escaping planetary ions are mainly seen in the hemisphere into which the solar wind electric field is pointed. The effect is more pronounced for the high subsolar magnetic field case.The average ion motion has a consistent bias towards the direction of the solar wind electric field, but the main motion is in the antisunward direction. The antisunward flow velocity increases with tailward distance, reaching above at 2 to 3 martian radii downtail from Mars for O⁺ ions. Different ion species reach approximately the same bulk flow energy. We did not find any clear correlation between the solar EUV flux and the ion escape distribution or rate, probably because the variation of the solar EUV flux over our study interval was too small. The results indicate that the solar wind and its magnetic field directly interacts with the ionosphere of Mars, removing more ions for high subsolar magnetic field strength. The interaction region and the tail heavy ion flow region are not perfectly shielded from the solar wind electric field, which accelerates particles over relatively large tail distances.