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Detailed Reference Information |
Burlaga, L.F., Ness, N.F., Belcher, J.W., Szabo, A., Isenberg, P.A. and Lee, M.A. (1994). Pickup protons and pressure-balanced structures: Voyager 2 observations in merged interaction regions near 35 AU. Journal of Geophysical Research 99: doi: 10.1029/94JA01999. issn: 0148-0227. |
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Five pressure-balanced structures, each with a scale of the order of a few hundredths of an astronomical unit (AU), were identified in two merged interaction regions (MIRs) near 35 AU in the Voyager 2 plasma and magnetic field data. They include a tangential discontinuity, simple and complex magnetic holes, slow correlated variations among the plasma and magnetic field parameters, and complex uncorrelated variations among the parameters. The changes in the magnetic pressure in these events are balanced by changes in the pressure of interstellar pickup protons. Thus the pickup protons probably play a major role in the dynamics of the MIRs. The solar wind proton and electron pressures are relatively unimportant in the MIRs at 35 AU and beyond. The region near 35 AU is a transition region: the Sun is the source of the magnetic field, but the interstellar medium is the source of pickup protons. Relative to the solar wind proton gyroradius, the thicknesses of the discontinuities and simple magnetic holes observed near 35 AU are at least an order of magnitude greater than those observed at 1 AU. However, the thicknesses of the tangential discontinuity and simple magnetic holes observed near 35 AU (in units of the pickup proton Larmor radius) are comparable to those observed at 1 AU (in units of the solar wind proton gyroradius). Thus the gyroradius of interstellar pickup protons controls the thickness of current sheets near 35 AU. We determine the interstellar pickup proton pressure in the PBSs. Using a model for the pickup proton temperature, we estimate that the average interstellar pickup proton pressure, temperature, and density in the MIRs at 35 AU are (0.53¿0.14)¿10-12 erg/cm3, (5.8¿0.4)¿106 ¿K and (7¿2)¿10-4 cm-3, respectively. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1994 |
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Abstract |
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Keywords
Interplanetary Physics, Energetic particles, Interplanetary Physics, Interplanetary magnetic fields, Interplanetary Physics, Interstellar gas, Interplanetary Physics, Solar wind plasma |
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009-1277 USA 1-202-462-6900 1-202-328-0566 service@agu.org |
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