"Smoke Ring" Pitch Angle Distributions of Energetic Particles Associated With Shock Passage in the Middle Heliosphere

Details "Smoke Ring" Pitch Angle Distributions of Energetic Particles Associated With Shock Passage in the Middle Heliosphere "Smoke Ring" Pitch Angle Distributions of Energetic Particles Associated With Shock Passage in the Middle Heliosphere

May 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agusmsh44a..04h&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #SH44A-04

Physics

6275 Saturn, 2114 Energetic Particles (7514), 2139 Interplanetary Shocks, 2164 Solar Wind Plasma

Scientific paper

In conjunction with an interplanetary shock passing the Cassini spacecraft at 8.6 AU on 8 October 2003, the pitch angle distributions of 20-80 keV protons were observed to have the form of a conical shell. While in ion measurement mode, the Ion Neutral Camera (INCA), which is part of the Cassini/MIMI investigation, detected the distinct signature of these particles, dubbed "smoke rings" due to their appearance as viewed along the magnetic field by this imaging instrument. The association between the observed pitch-angle distribution and the passage of the shock was predicted by Decker [1983]. He explained that such distributions should be seen upstream of a shock with a half angle of roughly 45 degrees, while downstream the cone opens to 90 degree, forming a "pancake" distribution. The mechanism is predicted to be single-encounter shock-drift acceleration, which also results in the formation of a shock spike (a brief, temporally dependent increase in particle intensity) and a modified spectral slope. The extent and character of the pitch angles, spectra, and time-intensity profiles depend on the angle and magnitude of the plasma velocity with respect to the shock normal and the magnetic field vector. We will explore the relationship between the Cassini observations and the predicted acceleration process that may be responsible.

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