Physics
Scientific paper
Mar 1991
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1991georl..18..357m&link_type=abstract
Geophysical Research Letters (ISSN 0094-8276), vol. 18, March 1991, p. 357-360. Research supported by Polish Academy of Sciences
Physics
19
Heliosphere, Plasma Interactions, Plasma Waves, Solar Wind Velocity, Wave Generation, Bow Waves, Interstellar Matter, Pioneer 11 Space Probe, Voyager 1 Spacecraft, Voyager 2 Spacecraft
Scientific paper
There is mounting evidence that the Voyager 1 and 2 and Pioneer 11 spacecraft may approach the inner (termination) heliospheric shock near the end of this century. It is argued here, by analogy with planetary bow shocks, that energetic electrons backstreaming from the heliospheric shock along the magnetic field should be unstable to the generation of Langmuir waves by the electron beam instability. Analytic expressions for the cutoff velocity, corresponding to the beam speed of the electrons backstreaming from the shock, are derived for a standard solar wind model. At the front side of the heliosphere the maximum beam velocity is expected to be at the meridian passing through the nose of the shock, which is assumed to be aligned with the Very Local Inter-Stellar Medium flow. This foreshock region and the associated Langmuir waves are relevant to both the expected in situ observations of the heliospheric boundaries, and to the low-frequency (2-3 kHz) radio emissions observed by the Voyager spacecraft in the outer heliosphere. Provided that these radio emissions are generated by Langmuir waves, the minimum Langmuir wave electric fields at the remote source are estimated to be greater than about 3 - 30 microV/m.
Cairns Iver H.
Gurnett Donald A.
Kurth Willaim S.
Macek Wieslaw M.
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