Magnetic reconnection in the heliosphere: a global picture

Details Magnetic reconnection in the heliosphere: a global picture Magnetic reconnection in the heliosphere: a global picture

Dec 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufmsm31a1708s&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #SM31A-1708

Physics

7524 Magnetic Fields, 7811 Discontinuities (2109), 7835 Magnetic Reconnection (2723, 7526), 7839 Nonlinear Phenomena (4400, 6944), 7851 Shock Waves (4455)

Scientific paper

We use interplanetary plasma data from Voyagers 1 and 2 in conjunction with ACE and Wind to study signatures of magnetic reconnection in the solar wind over the applicable duration of each mission. We study the evolution of current sheets and pressure-balanced exhaust structures with distance from the sun as we seek to determine the significance, if any, of fast magnetic reconnection to solar wind dynamics on a global scale. Thermal Alfvénic jets are shown to originate at fluid-like discontinuities in the solar wind at distances of up to 34 AU. We will present strong evidence of slow-mode shock acceleration in merging streams and exceptionally high reconnection rates in ICMEs at large distances (r≫1 AU) from the sun. These observations support the hypothesis that persistently driven reconnection in the solar wind develops towards a Petchek-like equilibrium on Alfvénic timescales.

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