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Flow downstream of the heliospheric terminal shock: Magnetic field line topology and solar cycle imprintThe topology of the magnetic field in the heliosheath is illustrated using plots of the field lines. It is shown that the Archimedean spiral inside the terminal shock is rotated back in the heliosheath into nested spirals that are advected in the direction of the interstellar wind. The 22-year solar magnetic cycle is imprinted onto these field lines in the form of unipolar magnetic envelopes surrounded by volumes of strongly mixed polarity. Each envelope is defined by the changing tilt of the heliospheric current sheet, which is in turn defined by the boundary of unipolar high-latitude regions on the Sun that shrink to the pole at solar maximum and expand to the equator at solar minimum. The detailed shape of the envelopes is regulated by the solar wind velocity structure in the heliosheath.
Document ID
19950047151
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Nerney, Steven
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Suess, S. T.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Schmahl, E. J.
(University of Maryland, College Park, MD United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 1995
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 100
Issue: A3
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
95A78750
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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