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High-velocity tails on the velocity distribution of solar wind ionsRecent observations of the solar wind using the SWICS instrument on the Ulysses spacecraft have shown the presence of high-velocity 'tails' on the velocity distribution of protons. Similar features have also been observed on the velocity distributions of helium and oxygen ions. Of the order of 1 percent of the solar wind density is involved in these tails, which are approximately exponential in shape and persist to V = V(B) + 10V(th) or beyond, where VB is the bulk velocity and V(th) the thermal velocity of the solar wind. This paper contains a preliminary description of the phenomenon. It is clear that it is ultimately connected with the passage of interplanetary shocks past the spacecraft and that particle acceleration at oblique shocks is involved.
Document ID
19930046798
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Ogilvie, K. W.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Geiss, J.
(Bern Univ. Switzerland)
Gloeckler, G.
(Maryland Univ. College Park, United States)
Berdichevsky, D.
(Hughes STX Corp. Lanham, MD, United States)
Wilken, B.
(Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Aeronomie Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 1993
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 98
Issue: A3
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Solar Physics
Accession Number
93A30795
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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