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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRS1995

Ulysses radio observations of the heliospheric activity in early June 1991

The radio receiver of the URAP (Unified Radio and Plasma Wave) experiment on Ulysses has recorded a heliospheric activity particularly intense between late May and early June 1991. Many solar radio emissions of types III and II were observed together with interplanetary (IP) shocks. In the same time, the radio spectrograph ARTEMIS at Nancay (France) observed several intense type II bursts. We investigate the association and/or interaction of these radio emissions, which are remotely observed, with some IP shocks detected in situ, in the context of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) induced scenario.

Hoang, S.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Ulysses - An investigation of the polar regions of the heliosphere

This paper describes the Ulysses mission, a cooperative NASA/ESA mission for exploring the heliosphere within 1 to 2 AU of the sun. The nine instruments of the Ulysses spacecraft will collect information continuously, recording and compressing data for a playback through NASA's Deep Space Network. Prominent features of the Ulysses include the 1.65-m parabolic high-gain antenna pointing continuously toward earth, which will provide the earth-to-spacecraft communications link; the Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator; and the 5.5-m radial boom which will provide an electromagnetically clean environment for certain experiments. Individual studies will include investigations of solar-wind plasma, solar-wind ion composition, cosmic dust, magnetic field, solar X-rays/cosmic gamma ray bursts, energetic-particle composition, low energy ions and electrons, cosmic rays/solar particles, radio and plasma waves, coronal plasma sounding, and gravitational waves.

Meeks, Willis G.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Ulysses observations of latitude gradients in the heliospheric magnetic field

Several parameters measured by Ulysses as it traveled southward to heliographic latitudes of -50 deg are presented and analyzed. The radial component of the magnetic field, averaged over 5 deg latitude increments and extrapolated back to 1 AU, is found to agree with baseline measurements provided by IMP-8. There is little, if any, evidence of a latitude gradient, a result consistent with the dominance of the magnetic field associated with the heliospheric current sheet and with recent models which include the effect of the current sheet as well as of source surface fields. Thus far, the spiral angle agrees with the Parker spiral assuming a rate of rotation of the field lines at the Sun equal to the equatorial value. No evidence is seen of either a change in rotation rate with latitude or an unwinding of the spiral as suggested by a recent analysis. Hourly variances in the field magnitude and in the sum of the variances in the components, normalized to the square of the observed field strenght, show the former to be independent of latitude while the latter shows a strong increase with latitude. These two observations are shown to be associated with Alfven waves that are continuously present at high latitudes. The waves have large amplitudes, extend to long periods, and have important implications for galactic cosmic rays and the solar wind.

Smith, E. J.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Solar wind eddies and the heliospheric current sheet

Ulysses has collected data between 1 and 5 AU during, and just following solar maximum, when the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) can be thought of as reaching its maximum tilt and being subject to the maximum amount of turbulence in the solar wind. The Ulysses solar wind plasma instrument measures the vector velocity and can be used to estimate the flow speed and direction in turbulent 'eddies' in the solar wind that are a fraction of an astronomical unit in size and last (have either a turnover or dynamical interaction time of) several hours to more than a day. Here, in a simple exercise, these solar wind eddies at the HCS are characterized using Ulysses data. This character is then used to define a model flow field with eddies that is imposed on an ideal HCS to estimate how the HCS will be deformed by the flow. This model inherently results in the complexity of the HCS increasing with heliocentric distance, but the result is a measure of the degree to which the observed change in complexity is a measure of the importance of solar wind flows in deforming the HCS. By comparison with randomly selected intervals not located on the HCS, it appears that eddies on the HCS are similar to those elsewhere at this time during the solar cycle, as is the resultant deformation of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). The IMF deformation is analogous to what is often termed the 'random walk' of interplanetary magnetic field lines.

Suess, S. T.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Low-Latitude Solar Wind During the Fall 1998 SOHO-Ulysses Quadrature

The Fall 1998 SOlar-Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) - Ulysses quadrature occurred when Ulysses was at 5.2 AU, 17.4 deg South of the equator, and off the West line of the Sun. SOHO coronal observations, at heliocentric distances of a few solar radii, showed that the line through the solar center and Ulysses crossed, over the first days of observations, a dark, weakly emitting area and through the northern edge of a streamer complex during the second half of the quadrature campaign. Ulysses in situ observations showed this transition to correspond to a decrease from higher speed wind typical of coronal hole flow to low speed wind. Physical parameters (density, temperature, flow speed) of the low latitude coronal plasma sampled over the campaign are determined using constraints from what is the same plasma measured later in situ and simulating the intensities of the Hydrogen Lyman-alpha and OVI 1032 and 1037 Angstrom lines, measured by the Ultra Violet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) on SOHO. The densities, temperatures and outflow speed are compared with the same characteristic flow parameters for high-latitude fast wind streams and typical slow solar wind.

Poletto, G.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Symposium Summary

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heliosphere Ulysses↗
NASA NTRS2001

Ulysses Data Analysis: Magnetic Topology of Heliospheric Structures

In this final technical report on research funded by a NASA grant, a project overview is given by way of summaries on nine published papers. Research has included: 1) Using suprathermal electron data to study heliospheric magnetic structures; 2) Analysis of magnetic clouds, coronal mass ejections (CME), and the heliospheric current sheet (HCS); 3) Analysis of the corotating interaction region (CIR) which develop from interactions between solar wind streams of different velocities; 4) Use of Ulysses data in the interpretation of heliospheric events and phenomena.

Crooker, Nancy↗
NASA NTRS2003

Dynamical Evolution of the Inner Heliosphere Approaching Solar Activity Maximum: Interpreting Ulysses Observations Using a Global MHD Model

In this study we describe a series of MHD simulations covering the time period from 12 January 1999 to 19 September 2001 (Carrington Rotation 1945 to 1980). This interval coincided with: (1) the Sun s approach toward solar maximum; and (2) Ulysses second descent to the southern polar regions, rapid latitude scan, and arrival into the northern polar regions. We focus on the evolution of several key parameters during this time, including the photospheric magnetic field, the computed coronal hole boundaries, the computed velocity profile near the Sun, and the plasma and magnetic field parameters at the location of Ulysses. The model results provide a global context for interpreting the often complex in situ measurements. We also present a heuristic explanation of stream dynamics to describe the morphology of interaction regions at solar maximum and contrast it with the picture that resulted from Ulysses first orbit, which occurred during more quiescent solar conditions. The simulation results described here are available at: http://sun.saic.com.

Riley, Pete↗
NASA NTRS1993

Introduction to the Ulysses encounter with Jupiter

The Ulysses spacecraft encountered Jupiter in February 1992, passing within 6.31 radii of the planet. For approximately 8 days it was inside the Jovian magnetosphere, and for several days before and after that, Ulysses was in the interaction regions formed by the solar wind (the magnetosheath and boundary layer). The inbound trajectory was at an approximately 1000 LT and the outbound trajectory was at 1800 LT, that is, dusk, a unique feature of the flight path. Three regions interior to the magnetosphere were identified as on previous missions both inbound and outbound. In addition, the spacecraft twice penetrated a cusplike region at high latitude in the inner magnetosphere. Following closest approach, Ulysses traversed the Io plasma torus in basically a north-south direction. Although Ulysses is a heliospheric mission, the experiments were suited to an investigation of Jupiter's magnetosphere and have returned much new information. This introduction to the accompanying articles by the Ulysses investigators provides basic information on the experiments, the spacecraft, and the trajectory. In addition, the scientific context of the encounter is reviewed on the basis of the preliminary analyses of the Ulysses observations and a rudimentary comparison with the earlier Pioneer and Voyager results. Some important scientific questions raised by the encounter, along with some tentative answers, are presented.

Smith, Edward J.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Solar Wind Characteristics from SOHO-Sun-Ulysses Quadrature Observations

Over the past few years, we have been running SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory)-Sun-Ulysses quadrature campaigns, aimed at comparing the plasma properties at coronal altitudes with plasma properties at interplanetary distances. Coronal plasma has been observed by SOHO experiments: mainly, we used LASCO (Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph Experiment) data to understand the overall coronal configuration at the time of quadratures and analyzed SUMER (Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation), CDS (Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer) and UVCS (Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer) data to derive its physical characteristics. At interplanetary distances, SWICS (Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer) and SWOOPS (Solar Wind Observation over the Poles of the Sun) aboard Ulysses provided us with interplanetary plasma data. Here we report on results from some of the campaigns. We notice that, depending on the geometry of the quadrature, i.e. on whether the radial to Ulysses traverses the corona at high or low latitudes, we are able to study different kinds of solar wind. In particular, a comparison between low-latitude and high-latitude wind, allowed us to provide evidence for differences in the acceleration of polar, fast plasma and equatorial, slow plasma: the latter occurring at higher levels and through a more extended region than fast wind. These properties are shared by both the proton and heavy ions outflows. Quadrature observations may provide useful information also on coronal vs. in situ elemental composition. To this end, we analyzed spectra taken in the corona, at altitudes ranging between approx. 1.02 and 2.2 solar radii, and derived the abundances of a number of ions, including oxygen and iron. Values of the O/Fe ratio, at coronal levels, have been compared with measurements of this ratio made by SWICS at interplanetary distances. Our results are compared with previous findings and predictions from modeling efforts.

Poletto, Giannina↗
NASA NTRS2003

The sun and heliosphere at solar maximum

Recent Ulysses observations from the Sun's equator to the poles reveal fundamental properties of the three-dimensional heliosphere at the maximum in solar activity. The heliospheric magnetic field originates from a magnetic dipole oriented nearly perpendicular to, instead of nearly parallel to, the Sun'rotation axis. Magnetic fields, solar wind, and energetic charged particles from low-latitude sources reach all latitudes, including the polar caps. The very fast high-latitude wind and polar coronal holes disappear and reappear together. Solar wind speed continues to be inversely correlated with coronal temperature. The cosmic ray flux is reduced symmetrically at all latitudes.

magnetic field solar winds galactic cosmic rays↗