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Flows and obstacles in the heliosphere

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2008

John D. Richardson
John D. Richardson*
Affiliation:
Kavli Center for Astrophysics and Space Science, Room 37-655, M.I.T., Cambridge, MA USA 02139 email: jdr@space.mit.edu
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Abstract

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The supersonic solar wind is highly variable on all time scales near the Sun but fluctuations are moderated by self-interaction as this plasma moves outward. The solar wind runs into many obstacles on its way out. The neutrals from the interstellar medium slow it down. Magnetospheres and interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) cause shocks to form so that the flow can divert around these obstacles. Finally the solar wind is stopped by the circum-heliospheric interstellar medium (CHISM); it slows at the termination shock and then turns down the heliotail. The shocks and sheaths formed by these interactions cover scales which vary by orders of magnitude; some aspects of these shocks and sheaths look very similar and some very different. We discuss solar wind evolution, interaction with the neutrals from the CHISM, foreshocks, shock structure, shock heating, asymmetries, and sheath variability in different sheath regions.

Keywords

solar windshock wavesplasmas
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 4 , Symposium S257: Universal Heliophysical Processes , September 2008 , pp. 577 - 587
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2009

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