Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Solar wind termination”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

Sensing the solar-wind termination shock from Earth's orbit

The solar-wind termination shock is inaccessible for repeated in situ investigation. We examine, therefore, the possibility of remote sensing the entire heliopause from Earth's orbit using the energetic neutral atoms (ENA) produced by charge exchange between energetic ions and the neutral atoms of the interstellar medium at and beyond the termination shock. We estimate the ENA fluxes at Earth's orbit coming from the thermalized solar-wind ions and the shock-accelerated anomalous cosmic rays (ACR) at the heliospheric boundary.

Hsieh, K. C.↗
NASA NTRS1993

The gradient of galactic cosmic rays at the solar-wind termination shock

We report on a study of the expected spatial variation of the galactic cosmic-ray intensity in the outer heliosphere, in the vicinity of the solar-wind termination shock. Model simulations which contain all of the transport effects, including drifts, predict that the radial gradients change abruptly at the shock, and that the nature of the effect varies significantly with particle energy. At low energies, the radial gradient changes abruptly from a lower value inside the shock to a higher value outside, whereas at high energies, the higher value of the gradient is inside the shock. This effect, which is a consequence of the matching conditions at the shock and is closely related to diffusive shock acceleration, is qualitatively the same for both helisopheric magnetic polarity states and remains much the same in one-dimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional models. Hence drifts do not change the nature of this phenomenon, although they change it quantitatively. The effect is, of course, not present in the absence of a terminal shock and may prove to be an important diagnostic tool for the study of the termination of the solar wind.

Jokipii, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Direct Acceleration of Pickup Ions at The Solar Wind Termination Shock: The Production of Anomalous Cosmic Rays

We have modeled the injection and acceleration of pickup ions at the solar wind termination shock and investigated the parameters needed to produce the observed Anomalous Cosmic Ray (ACR) fluxes. A non-linear Monte Carlo technique was employed, which in effect solves the Boltzmann equation and is not restricted to near-isotropic particle distribution functions. This technique models the injection of thermal and pickup ions, the acceleration of these ions, and the determination of the shock structure under the influence of the accelerated ions. The essential effects of injection are treated in a mostly self-consistent manner, including effects from shock obliquity, cross- field diffusion, and pitch-angle scattering. Using recent determinations of pickup ion densities, we are able to match the absolute flux of hydrogen in the ACRs by assuming that pickup ion scattering mean free paths, at the termination shock, are much less than an AU and that modestly strong cross-field diffusion occurs. Simultaneously, we match the flux ratios He(+)/H(+) or O(+)/H(+) to within a factor approx. 5. If the conditions of strong scattering apply, no pre-termination-shock injection phase is required and the injection and acceleration of pickup ions at the termination shock is totally analogous to the injection and acceleration of ions at highly oblique interplanetary shocks recently observed by the Ulysses spacecraft. The fact that ACR fluxes can be modeled with standard shock assumptions suggests that the much-discussed "injection problem" for highly oblique shocks stems from incomplete (either mathematical or computer) modeling of these shocks rather than from any actual difficulty shocks may have in injecting and accelerating thermal or quasi-thermal particles.

Ellison, Donald C.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Hybrid Simulations of Interstellar Pickup Ion Acceleration at the Solar Wind Termination Shock

Hybrid (kinetic ion/fluid electron) simulations have been used to study self-consistently the injection and initial stages of acceleration of interstellar pickup ions at the solar wind termination shock. Results are presented from one-dimensional simulations of high Mach number oblique (40 deg-50 deg) shocks with a 10% population of interstellar pickup hydrogen. In these simulations, the pickup ions, the solar wind ions, the shock fields and the waves are all treated self-consistently. Pickup ions reflected by the shock excite large amplitude (DELTA.B / B approximately 0.3) upstream magnetosonic waves. These waves, in turn, scatter the pickup hydrogen, as expected in the diffusive shock acceleration process. The spectrum of excited waves broadens in time. We find that, for the parameters studied, the termination shock efficiently injects and accelerates the interstellar pickup hydrogen, and thus this work represents a microscopic verification of this anomalous cosmic ray injection mechanism. Comparison of injected fluxes from the simulations with Voyager fluxes extrapolated to the termination shock suggests that injection at the termination shock is probably greater than injection by interplanetary shocks. A study of accelerated pickup ion orbits shows that the energy gain comes predominantly from shock drift acceleration in the shock front, with the upstream waves aiding the acceleration by allowing multiple encounters with the shock.

Liewer, P. C.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Hybrid simulations of the effects of interstellar pickup hydrogen on the solar wind termination shock

Hybrid (kinetic ions/fluid electrons) plasma simulations are used to study the effects of a population of energetic interstellar pickup hydrogen ions on the solar wind termination shock. The pickup hydrogen is treated as a second ion species in the simulations, and thus the effects of the pick-ups on the shock, as well as the effects of the shock on the pickups, are treated in a fully self-consistent manner. For quasi-perpendicular shocks with 10-20 percent pickup hydrogen the pickup ions manifest themselves in a small foot ahead of the shock ramp caused by pickup ion reflection. For oblique shocks with smaller angles between the field and the shock normal, a large fraction of the pickup ions are reflected and move back upstream where they excite large amplitude magnetosonic waves which steepen into shocklets. These backstreaming pickup ions may provide advance warning of a spacecraft encounter with the termination shock.

Liewer, P. C.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Estimate of the distance to the solar wind termination shock from gradients of anomalous cosmic ray oxygen

The radial gradient of anomalous cosmic ray oxygen measured instantaneously between Voyager 2 and Pioneer 10 during 1985-1988 is correlated with the inferred tilt of the heliospheric neutral sheet. This is consistent with a simple model in which the radial gradient is related to the length of the neutral sheet between the two spacecraft. With this model we show that the radial gradient and the tilt of the neutral sheet near the solar wind termination shock can be inferred from the Voyager and Pioneer observations. By comparing the time history of the inferred tilt with that derived from solar observations, we estimate that the termination shock was at 62 +5/-7 AU at solar minimum in 1987. At solar maximum the shock should be located at about 90 AU due to the increased pressure of the solar wind.

Cummings, A. C.↗
NASA NTRS2004

The Solar Wind Termination Shock and the Outer Heliosphere

Beginning in mid-2002, Voyager 1 observed an extended period of field-aligned flows of low energy ions and electrons that was unlike previous observations, suggesting that the spacecraft was in the vicinity of the solar wind termination shock. However, the observations differed from expectations and have resulted in differing interpretations as to whether or not Voyager 1 crossed the termination shock and entered the subsonic flow in the heliosheath for a seven month period. The puzzling aspects of the observations suggest that the shock is more complex and dynamic than generally expected and that there could be more surprises as Voyager 1 will likely encounter the shock several times before durably entering the heliosheath sometime in the next few years.

Stone, E. C.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Cosmic-ray gradient measurements and modulation beyond the inner solar wind termination shock

Data provided by the IMP, Voyager, and Pioneer spacecraft for the cosmic-ray particles with E greater than 60 MeV show the existence of integral radial cosmic-ray-density gradients which were nearly constant from 1977 to 1982. In this paper, these measurements are explained using a model in which significant modulation occurs in the turbulent shocked plasma flow between the inner solar wind termination and the outer contact discontinuity separating the interstellar medium flow from the heliospheric plasma.

Quenby, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Cosmic-ray gradients in the outer heliosphere

We report on a study of the expected spatial variation of the galactic cosmic-ray intensity in the vicinity of the solar-wind termination shock. Model simulations predict that the radial gradients change abruptly at the shock, and that the nature of the effect varies significantly with particle energy. At low energies, the radial gradient changes abruptly from a lower value inside the shock to a higher value outside, whereas at high energies, the higher value of the gradient is inside the shock. This effect, which is a consequence of the matching conditions at the shock and is closely related to diffusive shock acceleration, is qualitatively the same for both heliospheric magnetic polarity states and remains much the same in one-dimensional, two-dimensional and three-dimensional models. Hence drifts do not change the nature of this phenomenon, although they change it quantitatively. The effect may prove to be an important diagnostic tool for the study of the termination of the solar wind.

Kota, J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Diffusive shock acceleration in the presence of current sheets

We study the nature of diffusive shock acceleration in the presence of current sheets which are oriented normal to the shock, so that the drift along the sheets carries particles either away from or toward the shock plane. We consider a system with periodic regions of alternating magnetic field direction. This can be taken to be a very crude representation of the termination of the solar wind, with the equator being one sheet and the pole, with its rapid opposite drift, being another. We find very important effects of the current sheets. For example, particle intensities at the shock will be enhanced near one sheet and depressed at the other. Furthermore, the intensity at high energies (averaged over the shock plane) may in fact be considerably larger than in the standard one-dimensional infinite shock case. Implications of these results for the possible acceleration of cosmic electrons up to high energies at the solar-wind termination shock will briefly be discussed.

Kota, J.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Voyager and Pioneer Missions to the boundaries of the heliosphere

The interaction of the solar wind with the interstellar medium is expected to result in a complex, probably dynamic outer heliospheric boundary region. In increasing distance from the sun the boundary region includes the solar wind termination shock, the heliopause, and perhaps a heliobowshock. The continuing missions of Voyager 1 and 2 and Pioneer 10 and 11 provide a unique opportunity to make in situ particle and field observations of the boundaries of the heliosphere and associated phenomena. Observations already made by these spacecraft suggest that the termination shock may be located 60-100 AU from the sun. Voyager 1 will reach 60 AU in 1995 and 100 AU in 2006. NASA's Space Physics Division is planning with the Voyager and Pioneer Projects to ensure timely and maximum scientific return from spacecraft encounters with the solar wind termination region. Initial emphasis is on being able to reliably determine when an encounter is imminent, so that spacecraft tracking and spacecraft and instrument configurations can be changed to encounter modes. It is anticipated that multiple encounters with heliospheric boundaries will occur due to motion of the boundaries in response to large variations in the solar wind pressure.

Pesses, M. E.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Constraints on the acceleration of anomalous cosmic rays

The recent determination of an upper limit of 0.2 pc on the distance to the source of the anomalous cosmic rays, and the implied upper limit on their age imposes a significant observational constraint on possible acceleration mechanisms. Adiabatic cooling in the expanding wind makes the constraints significantly more stringent. In the light of these constraints, the rate of second-order Fermi acceleration is much too low to play a significant role. Diffusive shock acceleration, even at the strong termination shock of the solar wind, is sufficient only if one discards the standard expression for the maximum acceleration rate based on the Bohm limit. Only diffusive acceleration at the quasi-perpendicular solar wind termination shock has a high enough acceleration rate to be the source of the anomalous component.

Jokipii, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Cosmic ray acceleration by stellar wind. Simulation for heliosphere

The solar wind deceleration by the interstellar medium may result in the existence of the solar wind terminal shock. In this case a certain fraction of thermal particles after being heated at the shock would obtain enough energy to be injected to the regular acceleration process. An analytical solution for the spectrum in the frame of a simplified model that includes particle acceleration at the shock front and adiabatic cooling inside the stellar wind cavity has been derived. It is shown that the acceleration of the solar wind particles at the solar wind terminal shock is capable of providing the total flux, spectrum and radial gradients of the low-energy protons close to one observed in the interplanetary space.

Petukhov, S. I.↗