Heliospheric hydrogen beyond 15 AU - Evidence for a termination shock

Details Heliospheric hydrogen beyond 15 AU - Evidence for a termination shock Heliospheric hydrogen beyond 15 AU - Evidence for a termination shock

Sep 1993

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1993jgr....9815185h&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 98, no. A9, p. 15,185-15,192.

Physics

40

Heliosphere, Interstellar Matter, Plasma Composition, Shock Waves, Solar Wind, Hydrogen, Lyman Alpha Radiation, Particle Density (Concentration), Radiative Transfer

Scientific paper

The Voyager and Pioneer 10 spacecraft are moving upstream and downstream into the local interstellar flow, monitoring H Lyman alpha radiation resonantly scattered from heliospheric hydrogen. Voyager Cruise Maneuver observations obtained between 15 and 35 AU reveal that H Lyman alpha intensities in the upstream direction fall as r exp -0.75+/-0.05. Beyond 15 AU downstream, Pioneer 10 intensities fall as r exp -1.07+/-0.1. These trends cannot be simultaneously reproduced using a hot H distribution model that does not include termination shock structure. The Voyager H Lyman alpha intensities also show a distinctive trend to decrease less rapidly with increasing heliocentric distance. Between 15 and 20 AU, Voyager intensities fall as r exp -1, whereas between 30 and 35 AU they fall as r exp -0.35. This flattening trend implies that the upstream H density is increasing rapidly with heliocentric distance beyond about 25 AU. This steepening trend is significant because similar H density gradients are predicted in models which include the effects of the termination shock. Taken together, the Voyager and Pioneer 10 H Lyman alpha observations beyond 15 AU imply the existence of a solar wind termination shock, suggesting that it lies between 70 and 105 AU in the upstream direction.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Heliospheric hydrogen beyond 15 AU - Evidence for a termination shock does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Heliospheric hydrogen beyond 15 AU - Evidence for a termination shock, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Heliospheric hydrogen beyond 15 AU - Evidence for a termination shock will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1563804