Solar wind-magnetosphere interaction as simulated by a 3-D em particle code

We have studied the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction using a 3-D electromagnetic particle code. The results for an unmagnetized solar wind plasma streaming past a dipole magnetic field show the formation of a magnetopause and a magnetotail, the penetration of energetic particles into cusps and radiation belt and dawn-dusk asymmetries. The effects of interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) have been investigated in a similar way as done by MHD simulations. The simulation results with a southward IMF show the shrunk magnetosphere with great particle entry into the cusps and nightside magnetosphere. This is a signature of a magnetic reconnection at the dayside magnetopause. After a quasi-stable state is established with an unmagnetized solar wind we switched on a solar wind with an northward IMF. In this case the significant changes take place in the magnetotail. The waving motion was seen in the magnetotail and its length was shortened. This phenomena are consistent with the reconnections which occur at the high latitude magnetopause. In our simulations kinetic effects will determine the self-consistent anomalous resistivity in the magnetopause that causes reconnections.Deceased January 24, 1993; R. Bunemanet al. 1993.     

Strong interplanetary field enhancements at Ulysses—evidence of dust trails' interaction with the solar wind?

Interplanetary field enhancements were first discovered in the vicinity of Venus. These events are characterised by an increase in the magnitude of the heliospheric magnetic field with a near-symmetrical, sometimes thorn-shaped profile, and last from minutes to hours. Surveys of the events near Venus and Earth indicated clustering of the events in inertial space, which suggested that their sources were Solar System objects other than the Sun. A survey is presented of strong events of this type detected by the Ulysses spacecraft from 1990 to late 2001. Most of the events are accompanied by a discontinuity in the field direction near the events' centres. Other discontinuities are often symmetrical about the enhancement. The majority of events last less than two hours. When examined as a whole, the events tend to be accompanied by subtle changes in some plasma parameters. The majority of the enhancements are accompanied by magnetic holes on their fringes. The enhancements' occurrence rate increases with decreasing heliocentric distance. Possible formation mechanisms are discussed. No link was found with solar, or solar wind sources. Several aspects of the survey results are consistent with an origin related to cometary dust trails. Possible processes associated with a dust-solar wind interaction are discussed.     

The sodium tail of the Moon

During the few days centered about new Moon, the lunar surface is optically hidden from Earth-based observers. However, the Moon still offers an observable: an extended sodium tail. The lunar sodium tail is the escaping “hot” component of a coma-like exosphere of sodium generated by photon-stimulated desorption, solar wind sputtering and meteoroid impact. Neutral sodium atoms escaping lunar gravity experience solar radiation pressure that drives them into the anti-solar direction forming a comet-like tail. During new Moon time, the geometry of the Sun, Moon and Earth is such that the anti-sunward sodium flux is perturbed by the terrestrial gravitational field resulting in its focusing into a dense core that extends beyond the Earth. An all-sky camera situated at the El Leoncito Observatory (CASLEO) in Argentina has been successfully imaging this tail through a sodium filter at each lunation since April 2006. This paper reports on the results of the brightness of the lunar sodium tail spanning 31 lunations between April 2006 and September 2008. Brightness variability trends are compared with both sporadic and shower meteor activity, solar wind proton energy flux and solar near ultra violet (NUV) patterns for possible correlations. Results suggest minimal variability in the brightness of the observed lunar sodium tail, generally uncorrelated with any single source, yet consistent with a multi-year period of minimal solar activity and non-intense meteoric fluxes.     

Plasma environment of Jupiter family comets

As any comet nears the Sun, gas sublimes from the nucleus taking dust with it. Jupiter family comets are no exception. The neutral gas becomes ionized, and the interaction of a comet with the solar wind starts with ion pickup. This key process is also important in other solar system contexts wherever neutral particles become ionized and injected into a flowing plasma such as at Mars, Venus, Io, Titan and interstellar neutrals in the solar wind. At comets, ion pickup removes momentum and energy from the solar wind and puts it into cometary particles, which are then thermalised via plasma waves. Here we review what comets have shown us about how this process operates, and briefly look at how this can be applied in other contexts. We review the processes of pitch angle and energy scattering of the pickup ions, and the boundaries and regions in the comet-solar wind interaction. We use in-situ measurements from the four comets visited to date by spacecraft carrying plasma instrumentation: 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, 1P/Halley, 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup and 19P/Borrelly, to illustrate the process in action. While, of these, comet Halley is not a Jupiter class comet, it has told us the most about cometary plasma environments. The other comets, which are from the Jupiter family, give an interesting comparison as they have lower gas production rates and less-developed interactions. We examine the prospects for Rosetta at comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, another Jupiter family comet where a wide range of gas production rates will be studied.     

大质量双星系统的非守恒演化

由于大质量双星系统有强大的星风物质损失,因而在研究其结构和演化时必须考虑星风物质损失,动量损失,物质交换以及由以上原因引起的轨道参量的变化,此外,天文观测又证实,一些大质量双星系统中存在星风冲击波,有Ｘ射线辐射以及有致密天体（白矮星,中子星）的存在,因此在研究大质量双星的演化时,又会遇到在星风冲击波理论及其对演化的影响,双星系统何时会演化成为公共外壳的系统,以及双星系统中如果发生超新星爆发,是否会     

谱线分析法测定ζAur型系统的 红巨星星风物质损失

用双星技术（Binary-technique）的谱线分析方法来测定双星系统中的红巨星或红超巨星的星风物质损失率是目前最为精确的。扼要介绍了此类方法的一般原理以及在ζAur/VVCep双星系统的物质损失测量中的应用。同时介绍了该方法的最新进展,并展开与此有关的一些简要讨论。     

The Venusian induced magnetosphere: A case study of plasma and magnetic field measurements on the Venus Express mission

Plasma and magnetic field measurements made onboard the Venus Express on June 1, 2006, are analyzed and compared with predictions of a global model. It is shown that in the orbit studied, the plasma and magnetic field observations obtained near the North Pole under solar minimum conditions were qualitatively and, in many cases also, quantitatively in agreement with the general picture obtained using a global numerical quasi-neutral hybrid model of the solar wind interaction (HYB-Venus). In instances where the orbit of Venus Express crossed a boundary referred to as the magnetic pileup boundary (MPB), field line tracing supports the suggestion that the MPB separates the region that is magnetically connected to the fluctuating magnetosheath field from a region that is magnetically connected to the induced magnetotail lobes.     

Dependence of the Characteristics of Solar Wind Discontinuities and Shocks with Heliolatitude and Radial Distance

The distribution of the shocks in the heliosphere and their characteristic variations are investigated using Ulysses observations. The jumps in solar wind velocity, IMF magnitude, and proton density across the shocks and discontinuities are evaluated and used to characterize them. The distribution of these discontinuities with respect to heliolatitude ± 80° and with radial distance 1 to 5 AU are analyzed during solar minimum and solar maximum to understand their global behavior. It is noticed that the jumps in solar wind parameters associated with shocks and discontinuities are more prominent during the second orbit of Ulysses, which coincided with the maximum phase of solar activity.     

Solar Wind Effects Associated with a Recurrent,High-Latitude Coronal Brightness Enhancement

During the descent of Ulysses following the 2001 solar north pole passage, the SOHO LASCO C2 telescope recorded a particularly strong sequence of recurrent polarization brightness (pB) features at latitudes of around 55°. As Ulysses passed overhead, solar rotation swept the interplanetary extensions of these persistent coronal structures over the spacecraft. Comparison of solar remote sensing and Ulysses in situ observations through 2002 reveals the solar wind effects of very bright and recurrent K-coronal structures at high solar latitudes and of a steeply inclined heliospheric neutral sheet (HNS). Despite the high level of solar activity, the HNS at high latitude still organizes solar wind stream structure much as it did near the previous solar minimum. The recurrent coronal streamers originate slow solar wind and mark the northern extremity of a very tilted HNS whose passage at Ulysses is accompanied by slow, dense solar wind, enhanced temperature, depressed α abundance, enhanced magnetic fields, and magnetic field directional changes that evolve with spacecraft latitude.     

Multispacecraft Observations of Magnetic Clouds and Their Solar Origins between 19 and 23 May 2007

We analyze a series of complex interplanetary events and their solar origins that occurred between 19 and 23 May 2007 using observations by the STEREO and Wind satellites. The analyses demonstrate the new opportunities offered by the STEREO multispacecraft configuration for diagnosing the structure of in situ events and relating them to their solar sources. The investigated period was characterized by two high-speed solar wind streams and magnetic clouds observed in the vicinity of the sector boundary. The observing satellites were separated by a longitudinal distance comparable to the typical radial extent of magnetic clouds at 1 AU (fraction of an AU), and, indeed, clear differences were evident in the records from these spacecraft. Two partial-halo coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were launched from the same active region less than a day apart, the first on 19 May and the second on 20 May 2007. The clear signatures of the magnetic cloud associated with the first CME were observed by STEREO B and Wind while only STEREO A recorded clear signatures of the magnetic cloud associated with the latter CME. Both magnetic clouds appeared to have interacted strongly with the ambient solar wind and the data showed evidence that they were a part of the coronal streamer belt. Wind and STEREO B also recorded a shocklike disturbance propagating inside a magnetic cloud that compressed the field and plasma at the cloud’s trailing portion. The results illustrate how distant multisatellite observations can reveal the complex structure of the extension of the coronal streamer into interplanetary space even during the solar activity minimum. Electronic Supplementary Material  The online version of this article () contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.