Solar wind heating beyond 1 AU |
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| Authors: | Thomas E Holzer Egil Leer |
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| Institution: | 1. Aeronomy Laboratory, NOAA Environmental Research Laboratories, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.
2. The Auroral Observatory, University of Troms?, Troms?, Norway
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| Abstract: | The effect of an interplanetary atomic hydrogen gas on solar wind proton, electron and α-particle temperatures beyond 1 AU
is considered. It is shown that the proton temperature (and probably also the α-particle temperature) reaches a minimum between
2 AU and 4 AU, depending on values chosen for solar wind and interstellar gas parameters. Heating of the electron gas depends
primarily on the thermal coupling of the protons and electrons. For strong coupling (whenT
p
≳T
e
), the electron temperature reaches a minimum between 4 AU and 8 AU, but for weak coupling (Coulomb collisions only), the
electron temperature continues to decrease throughout the inner solar system. A spacecraft travelling to Jupiter should be
able to observe the heating effect of the solar wind-interplanetary hydrogen interaction, and from such observations it may
be possible of infer some properties of the interstellar neutral gas.
Currently a National Research Council Resident Research Associate. |
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| Keywords: | |
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