Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
May 1988
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1988ap%26ss.144..487m&link_type=abstract
Astrophysics and Space Science (ISSN 0004-640X), vol. 144, no. 1-2, May 1988, p. 487-505.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
48
Interstellar Gas, Ion Scattering, Solar Activity Effects, Solar Wind, Helium Ions, Interplanetary Magnetic Fields, Ion Distribution, Magnetohydrodynamic Waves, Velocity Distribution
Scientific paper
The interaction of interstellar pick-up ions with the solar wind is studied by comparing a model for the velocity distribution function of pick-up ions with actual measurements of He(+) ions in the solar wind. The model includes the effects of pitch-angle diffusion due to interplanetary Alfven waves, adiabatic deceleration in the expanding solar wind and the radial variation of the source function. It is demonstrated that the scattering mean free path is in the range less than or equal to 0.1 AU and that the energy diffusion can be neglected as compared with adiabatic deceleration. The effects of adiabatic focusing, of the radial variation of the neutral density, and of a variation of the solar wind velocity with distance from the sun are investigated. With the correct choice of these parameters the measured energy spectra of the pick-up ions can be modeled reasonably well. It is shown that the measured differential energy density of the pick-up ions does not vary with the solar wind velocity and the direction of the interplanetary magnetic field for a given local neutral gas density and ionization rate. Therefore, the comparison of the model distributions with the measurements leads to a quantitative determination of the local interstellar gas density.
Hovestadt Dieter
Klecker Berndt
Moebius Eberhard
Scholer Manfred
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