Conference proceeding
Electrostatic waves observed at and near the solar wind termination shock by Voyager 2
PARTICLE ACCELERATION AND TRANSPORT IN THE HELIOSPHERE AND BEYOND, Vol.1039, pp.335-342
AIP Conference Proceedings
01/01/2008
DOI: 10.1063/1.2982468
Abstract
Upstream electron plasma oscillations and broadband bursts of electrostatic waves have been observed in the vicinity of the solar wind termination shock by the Voyager 2 plasma wave instrument. The upstream electron plasma oscillations were first detected on August 1, 2007, at a radial distance of 83.4 astronomical units (AU). These oscillations continued sporadically for about a month until, starting on August 31, three well-defined bursts of broadband electrostatic waves, similar to those observed at planetary bow shocks, were observed at a heliocentric radial distance of about 83.7 AU. Two of these broadband bursts corresponded to shock crossings identified in the magnetometer and plasma data, and one did not. During the crossings labeled TS-3 and TS-4 by the magnetometer and plasma teams, the broadband electrostatic bursts corresponded almost exactly with steep ramps in the magnetic field strength. By scaling the frequencies by the upstream electron plasma frequency and the spectral densities by the upstream plasma energy density, we have shown that the normalized spectrum is very similar to those observed at the bow shocks of outer planets. Plasma simulations based on the observed upstream parameters suggest that the broadband waves are driven by a beam-plasma instability caused by the reflection of solar wind ions in the magnetic field ramp.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Electrostatic waves observed at and near the solar wind termination shock by Voyager 2
- Creators
- D. A. Gurnett - University of IowaW. S. Kurth - University of IowaL. F. Burlaga - NASA, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USAM. H. Acuna - NASA, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USAN. F. Ness - Catholic University of AmericaJ. D. Richardson - MIT, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139 USAN. Omidi - Solana Sci Inc, Solana Beach, CA 92075 USA
- Contributors
- G Li (Editor)R P Lin (Editor)J Luhmann (Editor)Q Hu (Editor)O Verkhoglyadova (Editor)G P Zank (Editor)
- Resource Type
- Conference proceeding
- Publication Details
- PARTICLE ACCELERATION AND TRANSPORT IN THE HELIOSPHERE AND BEYOND, Vol.1039, pp.335-342
- Series
- AIP Conference Proceedings
- DOI
- 10.1063/1.2982468
- ISSN
- 0094-243X
- eISSN
- 1551-7616
- Publisher
- Amer Inst Physics
- Number of pages
- 2
- Grant note
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL); National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) 959203 / Jet Propulsion Laboratory; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) 1279980; NNX07AW09G / NASA; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 01/01/2008
- Academic Unit
- Physics and Astronomy
- Record Identifier
- 9984455276102771
Metrics
3 Record Views