He Pickup Ions in the Inner Heliosphere—Diagnostics of the Local Interstellar Gas and of Interplanetary Conditions

Möbius, E.; Klecker, B.; Bochsler, P.; Gloeckler, G.; Kucharek, H.; Simunac, K. D. C.; Galvin, A. B.; Ellis, L.; Farrugia, C.; Kistler, L. M.; Luhmann, J. G.; Popecki, M. A.; Russell, C. T.; Wimmer-Schweingruber, R. F.; Wurz, Peter (2010). He Pickup Ions in the Inner Heliosphere—Diagnostics of the Local Interstellar Gas and of Interplanetary Conditions. In: 9th Annual International Astrophysics Conference. AIP Conference Proceedings: Vol. 1302 (pp. 37-43). AIP 10.1063/1.3529987

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The relative motion of the Sun through the Local Interstellar Cloud (LIC) leads to a neutral wind through the heliosphere. Because of its high ionization potential, He remains neutral to well within 1 AU, where it is deflected by the Sun’s gravity and forms a focusing cone on the downwind side. This flow pattern has been studied with UV backscattering, through pickup ions (PUI), and atom imaging. A consolidated set of the physical parameters of He in the LIC has been derived combining all three methods. However, it is still poorly understood why PUI fluxes and velocity distributions vary substantially on temporal scales from hours to many days, which leads among other phenomena to apparent changes in the appearance of the focusing cone, even after averaging over several days. With the combination of PLASTIC on STEREO A and B as well as SWICS on ACE, simultaneous PUI observations over an increasing range of heliospheric longitudes have become possible, for which we have initiated a cross‐calibration effort between the distributed sensors. With these data that feature improved temporal resolution, spatial and temporal variations in the PUI fluxes and spectra can be separated. Therefore, we can probe the effects on PUI distributions and the observed structure of the focusing cone that arise from solar wind structures, such as compressions and rarefactions, from variations in magnetic field strength and direction, and from changes in the ionization rates.

Item Type:

Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute > Space Research and Planetary Sciences
08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute

UniBE Contributor:

Bochsler, Peter, Wurz, Peter

Subjects:

500 Science > 520 Astronomy
600 Technology > 620 Engineering

Series:

AIP Conference Proceedings

Publisher:

AIP

Language:

English

Submitter:

Dora Ursula Zimmerer

Date Deposited:

14 Jun 2021 10:44

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:49

Publisher DOI:

10.1063/1.3529987

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/154413

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/154413

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