Evolution of Solar Wind Structures in the Outer Heliosphere

Catholic University Of America, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

The dynamical behavior of the outer solar heliosphere and the termination shock will be studied in the context of unsteady magnetohydrodynamic theory and supplemented by a nearly continuous record of plasma measurements from the Voyager spacecraft. The specific problems to be addressed are, (i) the radial evolution and interaction of very large high-speed solar wind streams near the maximum phase of Solar Cycle 23, and (ii) the effects of latitudinal variations and interactions of the variable solar wind on the position of the termination shock. The formalism treats the interstellar pickup protons and solar wind protons as two distinct fluid species, and it employs the appropriate Rankine-Hugoniot relations to calculate the jump conditions across the shock discontinuities. In this manner, one may accurately calculate the expansion of the solar wind, the interaction between neighboring fluid elements through wave processes, and the interaction of shocks with other shocks and stream structures.