NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Solar wind interaction with small bodies. 1: Whistler wing signatures near to Gaspra and IdaData from Galileo's two asteroid flybys reveal magnetic fluctuations that we interpret as perturbations of the solar wind magnetic field caused by an interaction with the nearby asteroid. The scale sizes of the bodies (approximately 14 km for Gaspra and approximately 30 km for Ida) are intermediate between the ion and electron gyroradii, which implies that the asteroid-imposed perturbations propagate in the whistler mode. Special properties of the whistler mode include phase phase velocities that can exceed the solar wind speed and confinement of the disturbance to directions nearly aligned with the magnetic field. These features of the interaction impose a structure on the solar wind disturbance that differs greatly from the forms familiar for either magnetized or unmagnetized bodies of magnetohydrodynamic spatial scales. We examine both data and computer simulations of the interaction with special attention to what can be inferred about the interaction itself from analysis of the data.
Document ID
19950055842
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Wang, Z.
(University of California, Los Angeles, CA US, United States)
Kivelson, M. G.
(University of California, Los Angeles, CA US, United States)
Joy, S.
(University of California, Los Angeles, CA US, United States)
Khurana, K. K.
(University of California, Los Angeles, CA US, United States)
Polanskey, C.
(Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA US, United States)
Southwood, D. J.
(University of California, Los Angeles, CA US, United States)
Walker, R. J.
(University of California, Los Angeles, CA US, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
August 1, 1995
Publication Information
Publication: Advances in Space Research
Volume: 16
Issue: 4
ISSN: 0273-1177
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
95A87441
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: JPL-958694
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

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