Meeting abstract

IAGA, 8th Scientific Assembly, Uppsala, Sweden, 4-8 August, 1997

Abstract:
We have studied the interaction of interplanetary CMEs with the solar wind to study the dependence of the interaction on solar wind speed. Using multi-dimensional MHD numerical simulations with a spherical solar wind geometry, it is shown that the same basic principles discussed in our earlier work with a uniform wind still hold. The CME couples strongly to the wind, due to an effective drag force, and the CME and wind field lines reconnect with each other. These processes take place for all reasonable values of the wind speed seen both in the ecliptic plane and at Ulysses.