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Counterstreaming suprathermal electron events upstream of corotating shocks in the solar wind beyond approximately 2 AU: UlyssesEnhanced fluxes of suprathermal electrons are commonly observed upstream of corotating forward and reverse shocks in the solar wind at heliocentric distances beyond approximately 2 AU by the Los Alamos plasma experiment on Ulysses. The average duration of these events, which are most intense immediately upstream from the shocks and which fade with increasing distance from them, is approximately 2.4 days near 5 AU. These events are caused by the leakage of shock-heated electrons into the upstream region. The upstream regions of these shocks face back toward the Sun along the interplanetary magnetic field, so these leaked electrons commonly counterstream relative to the normal solar wind electron heat flux. The observations suggest that conservation of magnetic moment and scattering typically limit the sunward propagation of these electrons as beams to field-aligned distances of approximately 15 AU. Although it seems unlikely that these shock-associated events are an important source of counterstreaming events near 1 AU, remnants of the backstreaming beams may contribute importantly to the diffuse solar wind halo electron population there.
Document ID
19950049163
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Gosling, J. T.
(Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM United States)
Bame, S. J.
(Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM United States)
Feldman, W. C.
(Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM United States)
Mccomas, D. J.
(Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM United States)
Phillips, J. L.
(Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM United States)
Goldstein, B. E.
(Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
November 5, 1993
Publication Information
Publication: Geophysical Research Letters
Volume: 20
Issue: 21
ISSN: 0094-8276
Subject Category
Solar Physics
Accession Number
95A80762
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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