Coronal expansion and the transfer of solar angular momentum to the interplanetary space

We discuss the question of loss of angular momentum through coronal expansion. From a large volume of data on Type-1 cometary tails we have confirmed the presence of a tangential component in the coronal expansion, which has not only a stochastic component but also a constant component of 9.8 km/s. Through coronal expansion the Sun has lost 80% of its angular momentum since it evolved on to the main sequence and the angular velocity of the Sun is decreasing exponentially. This result should have a large effect on the dynamical evolution of the Sun.     

Control of impulsive penetration of solar wind irregularities into the magnetosphere by the interplanetary magnetic field direction

Impulsive penetration of a solar wind filament into the magnetosphere is possible when the plasma element has an excess momentum density with respect to the background medium. This first condition is satisfied when the density is larger inside than outside the plasma inhomogeneity. In this paper we discuss the second condition which must be satisfied for such a plasma element to be captured by the magnetosphere: the magnetization vector (M) carried by this plasma must have a positive component along the direction of B₀, the magnetic field where the element penetrates through the magnetopause. On the contrary, when $\text{M · B}{}_0\text{< 0}$, the filament is stopped at the surface of the magnetopause. Thus the outcome of the interaction of the filament with the magnetosphere depends upon the orientation of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field. For instance, penetration and capture in the frontside magnetosphere implies that B_sw, the Interplanetary Magnetic Field, has a southward, or a small northward, component. Penetration and capture in the northern lobe of the magnetotail is favoured for an IMF pointing away from the Sun; in the southern lobe B_sw must be directed towards the Sun for capture. Finally, for capture in the vicinity of the polar cusps the magnetospheric field (B₀) assumes a wider range of orientations. Therefore, near the neutral points, it is easier to find a place where the condition $\text{M · B}{}_0\text{> 0}$ is satisfied than elsewhere. As a consequence, the penetration and capture of solar wind irregularities in the cleft regions is possible for almost any orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field direction. All observations made to date support these theoretical conclusions.     

A solar cycle variation of the interplanetary magnetic field

Measurements of the north-south (B _z component of the interplanetary field as compiled by King (1975) when organized into yearly histograms of the values of ¦B _z ¦ reveal the following. (1) The histograms decrease exponentially from a maximum occurrence frequency at the value ¦B _z ¦ = 0. (2) The slope of the exponential on a semi-log plot varies systematically roughly in phase with the sunspot number in such a way that the probability of large values of ¦B _z ¦ is much greater in the years near sunspot maximum than in the years near sunspot minimum. (3) There is a sparsely populated high-value tail, for which the data are too meager to discern any solar cycle variation. The high-value tail is perhaps associated with travelling interplanetary disturbances. (4) The solar cycle variations of B _z and the ordinary indicators of solar activity are roughly correlated. (5) The solar cycle variation of B _z is distinctly different than that of the solar wind speed and that of the geomagnetic Ap disturbance index.Now at the Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, Calif. 90245, U.S.A.     

The influence of non-uniform solar wind expansion on the angular momentum loss from the Sun

The influence on the rate of angular momentum loss from the Sun of magnetic geometries which are not spherically symmetric is estimated. Departures from spherical symmetry are expected to influence significantly the loss rate by two effects - the presence of closed magnetic field regions with no loss and also the variability in the radial distance to the Alfvénic point, as stressed by Mestel (1968).The loss rate is calculated for an MHD solar wind model with a solar magnetic field whose normal component at the surface is that of a north-south dipole. In contrast to Mestel's work, where the field was assumed dipolar within a certain surface and radial outside, the coupling between the solar wind and magnetic field is here taken into account exactly. For equivalent boundary conditions at the surface, the resulting field configuration yields an angular momentum loss rate which is only 15% of that for the monopole field normally used in angular momentum loss estimates. If, instead of equating boundary conditions at the Sun, one equates the two losses at the equator to that observed at 1 AU by spacecraft, then the ratio of the total loss for the distended dipole to that for the monopole is about 40%.On Leave from the Department of Applied Mathematics, The University, St. Andrews, Scotland.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.     

A solar cycle variation of the interplanetary magnetic field configuration

The representation of the sector boundaries, published by Svalgaard (1974, 1975) in a superposed 27-days Bartels format showed that they have a significant preference to occur in certain days of the solar rotation. Further study of these data, as well as of the polarized days in the vicinity of them, pointed out that during the epoch of extrema of the 11-year cycle there is a well-established 2-sector structure, on the average. On the contrary, a mean 4-sector structure is more prominent during the intermediate years.     

Transfer of solar angular momentum by inertial induction

Transfer of angular momentum from the Sun to the planetary system has been found to be inevitable in all evolutionary models for the origin of the solar system. In cold theories it has been proposed to be achieved through friction whereas electromagnetic forces are considered to be the agent for this transfer in hot theories. In the present paper it has been shown that the required order of magnitude of angular momentum can be transferred by another mechanism based on the principle of inertial induction. In the previous theories most of the transfer had been assumed to have taken place during the pre-Main-Sequence period whereas in this proposed theory most of the transfer takes place during the Main-Sequence period of the Sun. The paper does not intend to go into the details of planet formation and the evolutionary process but confines itself only to the problem of angular momentum transfer.     

Influence of a solar active region on the interplanetary magnetic field

The interplanetary magnetic field has been mapped between 0.4 and 1.2 AU in the ecliptic plane, extrapolating from satellite measurements at 1 AU. The structure within sectors and the evolution of sectors are discussed. The development of a solar active region appears to produce magnetic loops in the interplanetary medium that result in the formation of a new sector.     

On the three-dimensional structure of the solar magnetic field in interplanetary space

The three-dimensional structure of the solar magnetic field in the interplanetary space is inferred from a theoretical point of view. We use the magnetic field produced by a magnetic dipole rotating obliquely in vacuum. The correction for the presence of a plasma surrounding the Sun is taken into account in terms of a phenomenological approximation.Our method well reproduces the basic features of the polarity-reversal-surface (the neutral sheet in the two-hemisphere model by Saito (1975)) obtained on the basis of observational data, i.e. the snail-shell like structure and variation of its precise shape in accordance with the solar cycle, except for the folding of the surface.     

Spatial distribution of large-scale solar magnetic fields and their relation to the interplanetary magnetic field

The spatial organization of the observed photospheric magnetic field, as well as its relation to the polarity of the interplanetary field, have been studied using high resolution magnetograms from Kitt Peak National Observatory. Systematic patterns in the large scale field have been found to be due to contributions from both concentrated flux and more diffuse flux. It is not necessary to assume, as has often been done in previous studies, that there is a weak background solar magnetic field causing the large-scale patterns in the photosphere, although the existence of such a field cannot be excluded. The largest scale structures in the photosphere correspond to the expected pattern at the base of a warped heliomagnetic equator.The polarity of the photospheric field, determined on various spatial scales, correlates with the polarity of the interplanetary field, with the most significant correlation due to mid-latitude fields. However, because the interplanetary field is likely to be rooted in concentrated photospheric regions, rather than across an entire polarity region, both the strength and polarity of the field are important in determining the interplanetary field. Thus studies of the interplanetary field which are based on either instrumental or numerical averaging of fields in the solar photosphere are subject to serious inherent limitations.Analyses based on several spatial scales in the photosphere suggest that new flux in the interplanetary medium is often due to relatively small photospheric features which appear in the photosphere up to one month before they are manifest at the Earth. The evolution of the over-all photospheric pattern may be due to individual sub-patterns which have slightly different rotation properties and which alternate in their relative dominance of the interplanetary medium.     

The origin of the angular momentum distribution in the solar nebula

Supersonic non-central collision and coalescence of interstellar matter clouds is suggested as a physical process that could lead to the formation of a solar nebula with an appropriate distribution of the spinangular momentum.     

A pictorial comparison of interplanetary magnetic field polarity,solar wind speed,and geomagnetic disturbance index during the sunspot cycle

Observations of interplanetary magnetic field polarity, solar wind speed, and geomagnetic disturbance index (C9) during the years 1962–1975 are compared in a 27-day pictorial format that emphasizes their associated variations during the sunspot cycle. This display accentuates graphically several recently reported features of solar wind streams including the fact that the streams were faster, wider, and longer-lived during 1962–1964 and 1973–1975 in the declining phase of the sunspot cycle than during intervening years (Bame et al., 1976; Gosling et al., 1976). The display reveals strikingly that these high-speed streams were associated with the major, recurrent patterns of geomagnetic activity that are characteristic of the declining phase of the sunspot cycle. Finally, the display shows that during 1962–1975 the association between long-lived solar wind streams and recurrent geomagnetic disturbances was modulated by the annual variation (Burch, 1973) of the response of the geomagnetic field to solar wind conditions. The phase of this annual variation depends on the polarity of the interplanetary magnetic field in the sense that negative sectors of the interplanetary field have their greatest geomagnetic effect in northern hemisphere spring, and positive sectors have their greatest effect in the fall. During 1965–1972 when the solar wind streams were relatively slow (500 km s^-1), the annual variation strongly influenced the visibility of the corresponding geomagnetic disturbance patterns.Visiting Scientist, Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, Arizona.Operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation.     

Comparison of the mean photospheric magnetic field and the interplanetary magnetic field

The mean photospheric magnetic field of the sun seen as a star has been compared with the interplanetary magnetic field observed with spacecraft near the earth. Each change in polarity of the mean solar field is followed about 4 1/2 days later by a change in polarity of the interplanetary field (sector boundary). The scaling of the field magnitude from sun to near earth is within a factor of two of the theoretical value, indicating that large areas on the sun have the same predominant polarity as that of the interplanetary sector pattern. An independent determination of the zero level of the solar magnetograph has yielded a value of 0.1±0.05 G. An effect attributed to a delay of approximately one solar rotation between the appearance of a new photospheric magnetic feature and the resulting change in the interplanetary field is observed.     

Anisotropic angular broadening in the solar wind

We present Very Large Array observations at wavelengths of 2, 3.5, 6, and 20 cm, of angular broadening of radio sources due to the solar wind in the region 2–16 solar radii. Angular broadening is anisotropic with axial ratios in the range 2–16. Larger axial ratios are observed preferentially at smaller solar distances. Assuming that anisotropy is due to scattering blobs elongated along magnetic field lines, the distribution of position angles of the elliptically broadened images indicates that the field lines are non-radial even at the largest heliocentric distances observed here. At 5R , the major axis scattering angle is 0.7 at =6 cm and it varies with heliocentric distance asR ^–1.6. The level of turbulence, characterized by the wave structure function at a scale of 10 km along the major axis, normalized to =20 cm, has a value 20±7 at 5R and varies with heliocentric distance asR ^–3. Comprison with earlier results suggest that the level of turbulence is higher during solar maximum. Assuming a power-law spectrum of electron density fluctuations, the fitted spectral exponents have values in the range 2.8–3.4 for scales sizes between 2–35 km. The data suggests temporal fluctuations (of up to 10%) in the spectral exponent on a time scale of a few tens of minutes. The observed structure functions at different solar distances do not show any evidence for an inner scale; the upper limits are 1 km at 2R and 4 km at 13R . These upper limits are in conflict with earlier determinations and may suggest a reduced inner scale during solar maximum.     

Five-minute magnetic field fluctuations in the solar wind acceleration region

A spectral analysis of coronal Faraday rotation (FR) data obtained with the linearly polarized signals of the two Heliosspacecraft reveals that about one-third of the temporal FR spectra contain a distinct spectral line superposed onto the background power-law spectrum. The most prevalent frequency of this quasi-harmonic component (QHC) is about 4 mHz, corresponding to a 4–5 min periodic oscillation of the coronal magnetic field. Physical reasons for the existence of QHC Alfvén fluctuations in the inner solar wind are discussed. FR fluctuations (FRF) are considered to arise from both a turbulent background as well as an isolated Alfvén wave train of finite extent and duration. An estimate can be made for the conditions under which the isolated wave train is observed above the ever present background. It is shown that the wave train must have a sufficiently long duration and transverse wavelength. It is suggested that the QHC at periods near 4–5 min in the FRF spectra are most probably produced by outward-propagating Alfvén waves excited initially in the anisotropic structures of the chromospheric network.     

North-south asymmetry of the polar solar wind and some characteristics of solar magnetic field

We have found correlated variations of the yearly averaged north-south asymmetry in the polar solar wind speed (_sol) and the ratio of the zonal quadrupolar to the zonal dipolar contribution in the inferred coronal magnetic field during the declining phase of sunspot cycle 21. A physically meaningful association between _sol and some polar solar magnetic field proxies is also observed during the low sunspot activity periods of the above cycle.     

On the energy release by magnetic field dissipation in the solar atmosphere

The energy release by Joule magnetic-field dissipation in the solar atmosphere is discussed. It is shown that the heating is unimportant in the case of granulation and intergranular space. In the case of spot features the additional temperatures T_r with the accounting of the radiation losses are no more than 30° for small new spots, 1° for the large umbrae and 300° for bright points in large umbrae. This effect gives the possibility to suggest a hypothesis on the source of temperature inhomogeneity in the spot umbra and the nature of bright points. In the chromosphere the dissipation is negligible.On leave from the Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation (IZMIRAN), U.S.S.R., Moscow region, p/o Academgorodok.