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Möbius et al. 1998
Möbius, E., Rucinski, D., Lee, M.A. and Isenberg, P.A. (1998). Decreases in the antisunward flux of interstellar pickup He+ associated with radial interplanetary magnetic field. Journal of Geophysical Research 103: doi: 10.1029/97JA02771. issn: 0148-0227.

Observations of interstellar pickup He+ by the Suprathermal Energy Ionic Charge Analyzer (SULEICA) instrument on the AMPTE/IRM spacecraft show significant reductions in the antisunward flux of these particles in the solar wind frame when the interplanetary magnetic field is directed radially. During such times, which can be as short as the 20-min time resolution of our instrument, the typically sharp cutoff in the pickup ion distribution at spacecraft-frame energy Ec=2MVsw2, where M is the helium mass and Vsw is the solar wind speed, is replaced by a smooth decline to background flux levels over several energy steps. We interpret these reductions as the result of inhibited pitch angle scattering into the observable antisunward region of phase space, implying a strong sunward anisotropy during these times. Thus we unambiguously identify the appearance of such anisotropies with the radial orientation of the magnetic field. We analyze the observations in terms of a steady two-stream model of the ion distribution and use this model to estimate an effective &lgr;, the scattering mean free path of the ions along the field. We obtain values of &lgr; which range from 0.16 to 0.76 AU and discuss the significance of these results. ¿ 1998 American Geophysical Union

BACKGROUND DATA FILES

Abstract

Keywords
Interplanetary Physics, Energetic particles, heliospheric, Interplanetary Physics, Interplanetary magnetic fields, Interplanetary Physics, Neutral particles, Interplanetary Physics, Pickup ions
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research
http://www.agu.org/journals/jb/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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