Pressure-balanced structures between 1 AU and 24 AU and their implications for solar wind electrons and interstellar pickup ions

L.F Burlaga; J.D Scudder; L.W Klein; P.A Isenberg

doi:10.1029/JA095iA03p02229

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Pressure-balanced structures between 1 AU and 24 AU and their implications for solar wind electrons and interstellar pickup ions

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Pressure-balanced structures between 1 AU and 24 AU and their implications for solar wind electrons and interstellar pickup ions

L.F Burlaga, J.D Scudder, L.W Klein and P.A Isenberg

Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Vol.95:A3(A3), pp.2229-2239

03/01/1990

DOI: 10.1029/JA095iA03p02229

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Abstract

Pressure-balanced structures (PBSs) in the heliosphere are microscale phenomena with a characteristic length along the radial dimension of the order of 0.05 AU across which the sum of the thermal pressures and the magnetic pressure is constant. The authors have identified pressure-balanced structures in the Voyager data from 1 AU to 24 AU. If the density of pickup ions N{sub i} were proportional to the proton density across a PBS and if the electron pressure were negligible, then from measurements of the magnetic field and the proton density and temperature across pressure balanced structures they derive a pickup ion density which is significantly smaller than the density predicted by a model based on the same assumption. This suggests that there are processes which smear out the pressure of the pickup ions so that it is nearly constant on the scale of a PBS. If the pressure of the pickup ions is uniform across a PBS, then one can determine the electron temperature from the pressure balance condition. The electron temperatures derived from the PBS are consistent with the directly measured electron temperatures in the region within 5 AU, and they are consistent with the extrapolation of the polytropic relation between the electron temperature and density derived by Sittler and Scudder (1980) for densities of {ge} 0.03 cm{sup {minus}3}. From 11 pressure-balanced structures between 18.9 AU and 21.0 AU they derive an average temperature T{sub e} = (5.2 {plus minus} 2.3) {times} 10{sup 4} {degree}K at {approximately} 20 AU.

Morphology

640104 - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Solar Phenomena

ATMOSPHERES

CHARGED PARTICLES

CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS

CORRELATIONS

ELECTRON TEMPERATURE

ELECTRONS

ELEMENTARY PARTICLES

EQUILIBRIUM

FERMIONS

HELIOSPHERE

INTERACTIONS

INTERSTELLAR SPACE

ION DENSITY

IONS

LEPTONS

PRESSURE GRADIENTS

RADIATIONS

SOLAR ACTIVITY

SOLAR ATMOSPHERE

SOLAR ELECTRONS

SOLAR PARTICLES

SOLAR RADIATION

SOLAR WIND

SPACE

SPACE VEHICLES

STELLAR RADIATION

VEHICLES

VOYAGER SPACE PROBES

Details

Title: Subtitle: Pressure-balanced structures between 1 AU and 24 AU and their implications for solar wind electrons and interstellar pickup ions
Creators: L.F Burlaga - Goddard Space Flight Center
J.D Scudder - Goddard Space Flight Center
L.W Klein - Applied Research Corp. Landover, MD, United States
P.A Isenberg - University of New Hampshire
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Vol.95:A3(A3), pp.2229-2239
DOI: 10.1029/JA095iA03p02229
ISSN: 0148-0227
eISSN: 2156-2202
Language: English
Date published: 03/01/1990
Academic Unit: Physics and Astronomy
Record Identifier: 9984199935402771

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