Plasma flows in the heliosheath

Author(s)
Richardson, John D.; Stone, E. C.; Kasper, J. C.; Belcher, John Winston; Decker, R. B.
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Abstract
Voyager 2 is making the first plasma measurements in the heliosheath. The radial flow speeds in the heliosheath vary between 80 and 200 km/s with an average speed of 138 km/s. The flow in the T (azimuthal) direction is fairly constant and averages about 48 km/s; the flow direction is consistent with flow away from the heliospheric nose. Flow in the N (meridional) direction is also away from the nose and averages −14 km/s. These flows suggest that the shock is blunter in the T than in the N direction, so that the heliosphere is wider than it is high. The flow in the RN plane has quasi-periodic oscillation with a period of 110 days and an amplitude of 21 km/s. The oscillation in flow angle is about 6° in the RN plane and 17° in the TN plane and may result from periodic variations of the termination shock normal direction.
Date issued
2009-05
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/52676
Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics; MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Citation
Richardson, J. D., E. C. Stone, J. C. Kasper, J. W. Belcher, and R. B. Decker (2009), Plasma flows in the heliosheath, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L10102, doi:10.1029/2009GL038421. © 2009 American Geophysical Union
Version: Final published version
ISSN
0094-8276
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