NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Pressure-balanced structures between 1 AU and 24 AU and their implications for solar wind electrons and interstellar pickup ions'Pressure-balanced structures' (PBSs) in the heliosphere are microscale phenomena with a characteristic length along the radial dimension of the order of 0.05 AU across which the sum of the thermal pressures and the magnetic pressure is constant. PBSs have been identified in the Voyager data from 1 AU to 24 AU. If the density of pickup ions were proportional to the proton density across a PBS, and if the electron pressure were negligible, then from measurements of the magnetic field and the proton density and temperature across pressure balanced structures a pickup ion density is derived which is significantly smaller than the density predicted by a model based on the same assumption. This suggests that there are processes which 'smear out' the pressure of the pickup ions so that it is nearly constant on the scale of a PBS. If the pressure of the pickup ions is uniform across a PBS, then one can determine the electron temperature from the pressure balance condition.
Document ID
19900039382
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Burlaga, L. F.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Scudder, J. D.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Klein, L. W.
(Applied Research Corp. Landover, MD, United States)
Isenberg, P. A.
(New Hampshire, University Durham, United States)
Date Acquired
August 14, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 1990
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 95
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Solar Physics
Accession Number
90A26437
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-1531
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-76
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available