ESA Guest Investigator
This is one of the five accepted Ulysses ESA Guest Investigator proposals which involves collaboration with the magnetometer team.
The structure and dynamics of interplanetary coronal mass ejections and
microstreams observed by Ulysses
Dr. Peter Cargill
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London
Abstract
A theoretical and computational investigation of the structure of
interplanetary coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and microstreams is proposed.
The properties of CMEs at both large heliocentric distances and mid
latitude will be contrasted with those expected at the Earth's orbit.
Particular emphasis will be placed on how CMEs in low and high speed
wind regions differ, and on how portions of the same CME that are in
regions of different wind speed evolve relative to each other. The results
for mid-latitude will be compared with Ulysses observations obtained
between early 1993 and 1994, and as the spacecraft heads to Jupiter and
back. It is expected that this work will shed fundamental light on the
magnetohydrodynamic processes that govern the motion of CMEs in the solar
wind. It is also anticipated that they will contribute to our
understanding of the multi-dimensional topology of CMEs, since observations
from multiple spacecraft (e.g. Ulysses, Wind and ACE) can be expected to
provide data from different locations.
The possible solar origin of microstreams will also be examined. Working
from the hypothesis that they are the interplanetary remains of small-scale
plasma jets, or magnetic elements, as seen by HRTS and SOHO, the motion of
these elements over several AU will be modelled, and the results contrasted
with the Ulysses observations. If these structures are to survive from the Sun
to the orbit of Ulysses, they must be underdoing a minimal amount of
dissipation as they move through the wind. We will assess this possibility in
light of current knowledge of dissipative processes. Finally, this study
offers an opportunity to compare how large (CMEs) and small (microstreams)
solar phenomena behave as they move through the solar wind.
Address
The Blackett Laboratory
Imperial College
Prince Consort Road
London SW7 2BZ
United Kingdon
Email: p.cargill@ic.ac.uk
Tel: +44 171 594 7773
Fax: +44 171 594 7772
WWW: http://www.sp.ph.ic.ac.uk
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Last changed 29th May 1997 by Tim Horbury.