Journal articles
The Heliospheric Current Sheet in the Inner Heliosphere Observed by the Parker Solar Probe
Adam Szabo
1
Davin Larson
2
Phyllis Whittlesey
2
Michael Stevens
Benoit Lavraud
Tai Phan
2
Samantha Wallace
1
Shaela Jones-Mecholsky
Charles Arge
1
Samuel Badman
2
Dusan Odstrcil
Nikolai Pogorelov
Tae Kim
Pete Riley
Carl Henney
Stuart Bale
2
John Bonnell
3
Antony Case
3
Thierry Dudok de Wit
4
Keith Goetz
Peter Harvey
2
Justin Kasper
3
Kelly Korreck
3
Andriy Koval
Roberto Livi
2
Robert Macdowall
David Malaspina
Marc Pulupa
2
John Bonnell 3
Author
Antony Case 3
Author
Thierry Dudok de Wit 4
Author IdHAL : thierry-dudok-de-wit ORCID : https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4401-0943
Keith Goetz
Author
1
NASA, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA (NASA, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA - United States)
2
University of California [Berkeley] (Berkeley, CA - United States)
- University of California (United States)
3
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (60 Garden Street, MS 67, Cambridge, MA 02138-1516 - United States)
- Smithsonian Institution (PO Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012 - United States)
4
LPC2E - Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace (3A, Avenue de la Recherche Scientifique 45071 Orléans cedex 2 - France)
- OSUC - Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers en région Centre : UMS3116 (Campus Géosciences, 1A rue de la Férollerie, 45071 Orléans - France)
- INSU - CNRS - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU-CNRS 3 rue Michel-Ange, 75794 Paris Cedex 16 - France)
- Observatoire de Paris (61 Av de l'Observatoire 75014 PARIS - France)
- PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres (60 rue Mazarine 75006 Paris - France)
- UO - Université d'Orléans (Château de la Source - Avenue du Parc Floral - BP 6749 - 45067 Orléans cedex 2 - France)
- CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : UMS3116 (France)
- CNES - Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris] : UMR 7328 (Siège social : 2 place Maurice Quentin, 75039 Paris - France)
Abstract : The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) completed its first solar encounter in 2018 November, bringing it closer to the Sun than any previous mission. This allowed in situ investigation of the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) inside the orbit of Venus. The Parker observations reveal a well defined magnetic sector structure placing the spacecraft in a negative polarity region for most of the encounter. The observed current sheet crossings are compared to the predictions of both potential field source surface and magnetohydrodynamic models. All the model predictions are in good qualitative agreement with the observed crossings of the HCS. The models also generally agree that the HCS was nearly parallel with the solar equator during the inbound leg of the encounter and more significantly inclined during the outbound portion. The current sheet crossings at PSP are also compared to similar measurements made by the Wind spacecraft near Earth at 1 au. After allowing for orbital geometry and propagation effects, a remarkable agreement has been found between the observations of these two spacecraft underlying the large-scale stability of the HCS. Finally, the detailed magnetic field and plasma structure of each crossing is analyzed. Marked differences were observed between PSP and Wind measurements in the type of structures found near the HCS. This suggests that significant evolution of these small solar wind structures takes place before they reach 1 au.
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https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-02937791
Contributor : Nathalie Pothier <>
Submitted on : Monday, September 14, 2020 - 2:05:43 PM
Last modification on : Wednesday, September 23, 2020 - 4:37:54 AM
Contributor : Nathalie Pothier <>
Submitted on : Monday, September 14, 2020 - 2:05:43 PM
Last modification on : Wednesday, September 23, 2020 - 4:37:54 AM
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- HAL Id : insu-02937791, version 1
- DOI : 10.3847/1538-4365/ab5dac
Citation
Adam Szabo, Davin Larson, Phyllis Whittlesey, Michael Stevens, Benoit Lavraud, et al.. The Heliospheric Current Sheet in the Inner Heliosphere Observed by the Parker Solar Probe. Astrophysical Journal Supplement, American Astronomical Society, 2020, 246 (2), pp.47. ⟨10.3847/1538-4365/ab5dac⟩. ⟨insu-02937791⟩
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