The last solar minimum, which extended into 2009, was especially deep and prolonged. Since then, sunspot activity has gone through a very small peak while the heliospheric current sheet achieved ...large tilt angles similar to prior solar maxima. The solar wind fluid properties and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) have declined through the prolonged solar minimum and continued to be low through the current mini solar maximum. Compared to values typically observed from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s, the following proton parameters are lower on average from 2009 through day 79 of 2013: solar wind speed and beta (~11%), temperature (~40%), thermal pressure (~55%), mass flux (~34%), momentum flux or dynamic pressure (~41%), energy flux (~48%), IMF magnitude (~31%), and radial component of the IMF (~38%). These results have important implications for the solar wind's interaction with planetary magnetospheres and the heliosphere's interaction with the local interstellar medium, with the proton dynamic pressure remaining near the lowest values observed in the space age: ~1.4 nPa, compared to ~2.4 nPa typically observed from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s. The combination of lower magnetic flux emergence from the Sun (carried out in the solar wind as the IMF) and associated low power in the solar wind points to the causal relationship between them. Our results indicate that the low solar wind output is driven by an internal trend in the Sun that is longer than the ~11 yr solar cycle, and they suggest that this current weak solar maximum is driven by the same trend.
ABSTRACT Following the high-precision determination of the velocity vector and temperature of the pristine interstellar neutral (ISN) He via a coordinated analysis summarized by McComas et al., we ...analyzed the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) observations of neutral He left out from this analysis. These observations were collected during the ISN observation seasons 2010-2014 and cover the region in the Earth's orbit where the Warm Breeze (WB) persists. We used the same simulation model and a parameter fitting method very similar to that used for the analysis of ISN He. We approximated the parent population of the WB in front of the heliosphere with a homogeneous Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution function and found a temperature of ∼9500 K, an inflow speed of 11.3 km s−1, and an inflow longitude and latitude in the J2000 ecliptic coordinates 251 6, 12 0. The abundance of the WB relative to ISN He is 5.7% and the Mach number is 1.97. The newly determined inflow direction of the WB, the inflow directions of ISN H and ISN He, and the direction to the center of the IBEX Ribbon are almost perfectly co-planar, and this plane coincides within relatively narrow statistical uncertainties with the plane fitted only to the inflow directions of ISN He, ISN H, and the WB. This co-planarity lends support to the hypothesis that the WB is the secondary population of ISN He and that the center of the Ribbon coincides with the direction of the local interstellar magnetic field (ISMF). The common plane for the direction of the inflow of ISN gas, ISN H, the WB, and the local ISMF is given by the normal direction: ecliptic longitude 349 7 0 6 and latitude 35 7 0.6 in the J2000 coordinates, with a correlation coefficient of 0.85.
Abstract
A “Ribbon” of enhanced energetic neutral atom (ENA) emissions was discovered by the Interstellar Boundary Explorer in 2009, redefining our understanding of the heliosphere boundaries and the ...physical processes occurring at the interstellar interface. The Ribbon signal is intertwined with that of a globally distributed flux (GDF) that spans the entire sky. To a certain extent, Ribbon separation methods enabled examining its evolution independent of the underlying GDF. Observations over a full solar cycle revealed the Ribbon’s evolving nature, with intensity variations closely tracking those of the solar wind (SW) structure after a few years delay, accounting for the SW–ENA recycling process. In this work, we examine the Ribbon structure, namely its ENA fluxes, angular extent, width, and circularity properties for two years, 2009 and 2019, representative of the declining phases of two adjacent solar cycles. We find that, (i) the Ribbon ENA fluxes have recovered in the nose direction and south of it down to ∼25° (for energies below 1.7 keV) and not at mid and high ecliptic latitudes; (ii) the Ribbon width exhibits significant variability as a function of azimuthal angle; (iii) circularity analysis suggests that the 2019 Ribbon exhibits a statistically consistent radius with that in 2009. The Ribbon’s partial recovery is aligned with the consensus of a heliosphere with its closest point being southward of the nose region. The large variability of the Ribbon width as a function of azimuth in 2019 compared to 2009 is likely indicative of small-scale processes within the Ribbon.
Neutral gas of the local interstellar medium flows through the inner solar system while being deflected by solar gravity and depleted by ionization. The dominating feature in the energetic neutral ...atom Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) all-sky maps at low energies is the hydrogen, helium, and oxygen interstellar gas flow. The He and O flow peaked around 8 February 2009 in accordance with gravitational deflection, whereas H dominated after 26 March 2009, consistent with approximate balance of gravitational attraction by solar radiation pressure. The flow distributions arrive from a few degrees above the ecliptic plane and show the same temperature for He and O. An asymmetric O distribution in ecliptic latitude points to a secondary component from the outer heliosheath.
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This study presents a survey of ion flow speed, density, temperature, and composition observed by the Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment Ion (JADE‐I) sensor on Juno from 10–40 RJ in the dawn to ...midnight sector of Jupiter's magnetosphere. The survey covers Juno orbits 5–22, and the observations are separated by equatorial (|zmagRJ| ≤ 1.5) and off‐equator (|zmagRJ|>1.5) regions. Plasma parameters for H+, O+, O2+, O3+, Na+, S+, S2+, and S3+ are derived by forward modeling JADE‐I's energy‐per‐charge versus time‐of‐flight spectra using omnidirectional averaged convected kappa distributions and modeled instrument responses. O+ and S2+ are resolved via a ray‐tracing simulation based on carbon‐foil‐effects. The ion flow speed increases with radial distance and is comparable to rigid corotation speed out to ∼20 RJ. Ion number densities decrease with radial distance, the primary species being H+, O+, and S2+. The relative contribution of H+ and S2+ increases and decreases, respectively, in the off‐equator regions, supporting the interpretation that the latitudinal distribution of ions is mass dependent. The O+ to S2+ and ΣOn+ to ΣSn+ number density ratios are variable, the 5 RJ bin averages for O+ to S2+ ranging from ∼0.75–1.5 (equator) and ∼1.1–1.8 (off‐equator) and ΣOn+ to ΣSn+ from ∼0.6–0.9 (equator) and ∼0.8–1.1 (off‐equator). Both proton and heavy ion temperatures show order of magnitude increases between 10 and 20 RJ and range from ∼100 eV to 10 keV and 1 keV to a few tens of keV, respectively.
Plain Language Summary
The Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) on Juno has continuously investigated the plasma environment in Jupiter's magnetosphere since its arrival in August 2016. The polar‐orbiting spacecraft enables JADE to explore both equatorial and off‐equator regions of Jupiter's plasma sheet. In this study, we present plasma sheet ion characteristics such as ion composition, flow speed, and temperatures for H+, O+, O2+, O3+, Na+, S+, S2+, and S3+ that are originating from the innermost Galilean satellite Io. A spatial dependence of ion characteristics is discussed and compared to previous observations. While the density profiles agree well with the Voyager‐based studies, temperatures found in this study show at least an order of magnitude higher values. A new addition to this paper is that the latitudinal distribution of ions shows trend in the mass. Relative composition of protons increases compared to the heavier ions in the off‐equator regions. These observations provide insights on how the ions are distributed throughout Jupiter's magnetosphere and improve our current understanding on ion dynamics in the plasma sheet.
Key Points
Ion flow speed, number density, temperature, and composition in Jupiter's plasma sheet show radial and/or latitudinal trends
H+, O+, and S2+ are the primary ions, the contribution of H+ and S2+ increasing and decreasing, respectively, in the off‐equator region
The O+ to S2+ density ratio is variable, the 5 RJ bin averages ranging from 0.7–1.5 (equator) and 1.1–1.8 (off‐equator)
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Recent IBEX observations indicate that the local interstellar medium (LISM) flow speed is less than previously thought. Reasonable LISM plasma parameters indicate that the LISM flow may be either ...marginally super-fast magnetosonic or sub-fast magnetosonic. A theoretical analysis shows that the transition from a super-fast to a sub-fast magnetosonic downstream state is due to the charge exchange of fast neutral H and hot neutral H created in the supersonic solar wind and hot inner heliosheath, respectively. The charge exchange of fast and hot heliospheric neutral H therefore provides a primary dissipation mechanism at the weak heliospheric bow shock, in some cases effectively creating a one-shock heliosphere. Both super-fast magnetosonic models produce a sizeable H-wall. Subject to further modeling and comparison against further lines of sight, we conclude with the tantalizing possibility that IBEX may have discovered a class of interstellar shocks mediated by neutral H.
Recently, empirical kappa distribution, commonly used to describe non-equilibrium systems like space plasmas, has been connected with non-extensive statistical mechanics. Here we show how a ...consistent definition of the temperature and pressure is developed for stationary states out of thermal equilibrium, so that the familiar ideal gas state equation still holds. In addition to the classical triplet of temperature, pressure, and density, this generalization requires the kappa index as a fourth independent thermodynamic variable that characterizes the non-equilibrium stationary states. All four of these thermodynamic variables have key roles in describing the governing thermodynamical processes and transitions in space plasmas. We introduce a novel characterization of isothermal and isobaric processes that describe a system's transition into different stationary states by varying the kappa index. In addition, we show how the variation of temperature or/and pressure can occur through an "iso-q" process, in which the system remains in a fixed stationary state (fixed kappa index). These processes have been detected in the proton plasma in the inner heliosheath via specialized data analysis of energetic neutral atom (ENA) observations from Interstellar Boundary Explorer. In particular, we find that the temperature is highly correlated with (1) kappa, asymptotically related to isothermal (~1,000,000 K) and iso-q ( Kappa ~ 1.7) processes; and (2) density, related to an isobaric process, which separates the "Ribbon," P approx = 3.2 pdyn cm super(-2), from the globally distributed ENA flux, P approx = 2 pdyn cm super(-2).
ABSTRACT The solar wind emanating from the Sun interacts with the local interstellar medium (LISM), forming the heliosphere. Hydrogen energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) produced by the solar-interstellar ...interaction carry important information about plasma properties from the boundaries of the heliosphere, and are currently being measured by NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX). IBEX observations show the existence of a "ribbon" of intense ENA emission projecting a circle on the celestial sphere that is centered near the local interstellar magnetic field (ISMF) vector. Here we show that the source of the IBEX ribbon as a function of ENA energy outside the heliosphere, uniquely coupled to the draping of the ISMF around the heliopause, can be used to precisely determine the magnitude (2.93 0.08 G) and direction (227 28 0 69, 34 62 0 45 in ecliptic longitude and latitude) of the pristine ISMF far (∼1000 AU) from the Sun. We find that the ISMF vector is offset from the ribbon center by ∼8 3 toward the direction of motion of the heliosphere through the LISM, and their vectors form a plane that is consistent with the direction of deflected interstellar neutral hydrogen, thought to be controlled by the ISMF. Our results yield draped ISMF properties close to that observed by Voyager 1, the only spacecraft to directly measure the ISMF close to the heliosphere, and give predictions of the pristine ISMF that Voyager 1 has yet to sample.
In mid-2012, a global merged interaction region (GMIR) observed by Voyager 2 crossed through the heliosheath and collided with the heliopause, generating a pressure pulse that propagated into the ...very local interstellar medium. The effects of the transmitted wave were seen by Voyager 1 just 93 days after its own heliopause crossing. The passage of the transient was accompanied by long-lasting decreases in Galactic cosmic ray intensities that occurred from ∼2012.55 to ∼2013.35 and ∼2012.91 to ∼2013.70 at Voyager 2 and Voyager 1, respectively. Omnidirectional ( 20 MeV) proton-dominated measurements from each spacecraft's Cosmic Ray Subsystem reveal a remarkable similarity between these causally related events, with a correlation coefficient of 91.2% and a time lag of 130 days. Knowing the locations of the two spacecraft, we use the observed time delay to calculate the GMIR's average speed through the heliosheath (inside the heliopause) as a function of temperature in the very local interstellar medium. This, combined with particle, field, and plasma observations, enables us to infer previously unmeasured properties of the heliosheath, including a range of sound speeds and total effective pressures. For a nominal temperature of ∼20,000 K just outside the heliopause, we find a sound speed of 314 32 km s−1 and total effective pressure of 267 55 fPa inside the heliopause. We compare these results with the Interstellar Boundary Explorer's data-driven models of heliosheath pressures derived from energetic neutral atom fluxes (the globally distributed flux) and present them as additional evidence that the heliosheath's dynamics are driven by suprathermal energetic processes.
We report on the first observations of 100 eV to 100 keV electrons over the auroral regions of Jupiter by the Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) on board the Juno mission. The focus is on ...the regions that were magnetically connected to the main auroral oval. Amongst the most remarkable features, JADE observed electron beams, mostly upward going but also some downward going in the south, at latitudes from ~69° to 72° and ~ −66° to −70° corresponding to M shells (“M” for magnetic) from ~18 to 54 and ~28 to 61, respectively. The beams were replaced by upward loss cones at lower latitudes. There was no evidence of strongly accelerated downward electrons analogous to the auroral “inverted Vs” at Earth. Rather, the presence of upward loss cones suggests a diffuse aurora process. The energy spectra resemble tails of distributions or power laws (suggestive of a stochastic acceleration process) but can also have some clear enhancements or even peaks generally between 1 and 10 keV. Electron intensities change on timescales of a second or less at times implying that auroral structures can be of the order of a few tens of kilometers.
Key Points
First 100 eV to 100 keV electron measurements in the auroral regions of Jupiter
Upward and downward electron beams observed in the polar regions and on field lines connected to the middle plasma sheet
Upward loss cone on the field lines connected to the inner plasma sheet suggesting a diffuse aurora process
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