Global aspects of the motion of the heliospheric termination shock: A gasdynamic model

Details Global aspects of the motion of the heliospheric termination shock: A gasdynamic model Global aspects of the motion of the heliospheric termination shock: A gasdynamic model

Jun 1995

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1995sowi.conf..108r&link_type=abstract

NASA Ames Research Center, International Solar Wind 8 Conference, p. 108

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Heliosphere, Interstellar Matter, Pressure Effects, Solar Cycles, Solar Wind, Astronomical Models, Gas Dynamics, Shock Waves, Boundary Conditions, Simulation, Time Dependence, Wind Direction, Wind Pressure, Wind Velocity, Shock Wave Interaction

Scientific paper

The heliospheric termination shock is expected to move in response to variation in upstream solar wind conditions. Using numerical techniques, we extend an earlier strictly one-dimensional analytic gas dynamic model of shock motion to two dimensions, to investigate the qualitative features of global behavior of shock motion, and the consequences of latitudinal variation in dynamic pressure. The boundary conditions of the calculation are given by the solar wind parameters as a function of latitude and time on an inner spherical boundary, and a constant pressure (roughly simulating the effect of the local interstellar medium) on an outer boundary. Density variations, specified at the inner boundary as a function of time, are convected into the termination shock. Immediately after the interaction, the shock moves with speeds given by the earlier analytic model. However, as the termination shock propagates outward (or inward), it begins to slow down. After about 2 to 10 years, depending on details of boundary conditions, the signal from the shock interaction has reached the outer boundary and propagates inward to the position of the termination shock, strongly affecting the behavior of the shock. Assuming no further disturbances in the solar wind, the termination shock will reach its new equilibrium after some tens of years. In reality, large-scale variations in solar wind dynamic pressure occur on time scales short in comparison with the eleven year solar cycle, so that one expects that the termination shock is never in an equilibrium position, but rather oscillates inward and outward; this oscillation will vary with heliographic latitude. The effects of a variety of types of solar wind disturbances are investigated and summarized.

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