Spatial Structure of Solar Electron Bursts: Two-Point Observations using Genesis and ACE

Other

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

2114 Energetic Particles, Heliospheric (7514), 2118 Energetic Particles, Solar, 2164 Solar Wind Plasma, 7514 Energetic Particles (2114), 7524 Magnetic Fields

Scientific paper

Recent ACE studies have found that transient solar electron bursts associated with solar type III radio bursts are commonly observed at energies below 1.4 keV. At these energies the bursts appear as anti-sunward-directed electron beams superimposed on the suprathermal electron strahl and halo. Solar electron bursts are typified by their characteristic energy-time and pitch angle-time dispersion. Durations of burst events from onset to decay can vary from less than 1 hour to more than 30 hours, implying that the interplanetary magnetic filaments occupied by solar burst electrons are spatially broad. However, the true spatial extent and uniformity of a burst-carrying filament cannot be established from single spacecraft measurements. In order to explore the spatial characteristics of solar electron bursts, we have examined bursts detected at two spatially separated spacecraft: Genesis and ACE. The Genesis and ACE spacecraft both occupy L1 halo orbits and can be separated by up to 1 million km. We compared measurements from the nearly identical electron spectrometers on the two spacecraft. From November 2001 to May 2003 we found 136 solar electron bursts simultaneously detected by both spacecraft. More than two thirds of the burst events are strikingly similar at the two spacecraft, indicating that bursts are most often spatially uniform across ACE-Genesis separation distances. However, a number of burst events exhibit notable differences in the simultaneous Genesis and ACE observations, consistent with a non-uniform burst structure. Such structure indicates that the two spacecraft, though relatively near one another, are nonetheless found on interplanetary magnetic field lines mapping back to different solar source regions. We conclude that braided intermixing of interplanetary filaments is evident at 1 AU on separation scales of approximately one million km.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Spatial Structure of Solar Electron Bursts: Two-Point Observations using Genesis and ACE 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 Spatial Structure of Solar Electron Bursts: Two-Point Observations using Genesis and ACE, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Spatial Structure of Solar Electron Bursts: Two-Point Observations using Genesis and ACE will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1178794

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.