The high temperatures and strong magnetic fields of the solar corona form streams of solar wind that expand through the Solar System into interstellar space. At 09:33 UT on 28 April 2021 Parker Solar ...Probe entered the magnetized atmosphere of the Sun 13 million km above the photosphere, crossing below the Alfvén critical surface for five hours into plasma in casual contact with the Sun with an Alfvén Mach number of 0.79 and magnetic pressure dominating both ion and electron pressure. The spectrum of turbulence below the Alfvén critical surface is reported. Magnetic mapping suggests the region was a steady flow emerging on rapidly expanding coronal magnetic field lines lying above a pseudostreamer. The sub-Alfvénic nature of the flow may be due to suppressed magnetic reconnection at the base of the pseudostreamer, as evidenced by unusually low densities in this region and the magnetic mapping.
Parker Solar Probe (PSP), NASA's latest and closest mission to the Sun, is on a journey to investigate fundamental enigmas of the inner heliosphere. This paper reports initial observations made by ...the Solar Probe Analyzer for Ions (SPAN-I), one of the instruments in the Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons instrument suite. We address the presence of secondary proton beams in concert with ion-scale waves observed by FIELDS, the electromagnetic fields instrument suite. We show two events from PSP's second orbit that demonstrate signatures consistent with wave-particle interactions. We showcase 3D velocity distribution functions (VDFs) measured by SPAN-I during times of strong wave power at ion scales. From an initial instability analysis, we infer that the VDFs departed far enough away from local thermodynamic equilibrium to provide sufficient free energy to locally generate waves. These events exemplify the types of instabilities that may be present and, as such, may guide future data analysis characterizing and distinguishing between different wave-particle interactions.
The prediction of a supersonic solar wind
was first confirmed by spacecraft near Earth
and later by spacecraft at heliocentric distances as small as 62 solar radii
. These missions showed that plasma ...accelerates as it emerges from the corona, aided by unidentified processes that transport energy outwards from the Sun before depositing it in the wind. Alfvénic fluctuations are a promising candidate for such a process because they are seen in the corona and solar wind and contain considerable energy
. Magnetic tension forces the corona to co-rotate with the Sun, but any residual rotation far from the Sun reported until now has been much smaller than the amplitude of waves and deflections from interacting wind streams
. Here we report observations of solar-wind plasma at heliocentric distances of about 35 solar radii
, well within the distance at which stream interactions become important. We find that Alfvén waves organize into structured velocity spikes with duration of up to minutes, which are associated with propagating S-like bends in the magnetic-field lines. We detect an increasing rotational component to the flow velocity of the solar wind around the Sun, peaking at 35 to 50 kilometres per second-considerably above the amplitude of the waves. These flows exceed classical velocity predictions of a few kilometres per second, challenging models of circulation in the corona and calling into question our understanding of how stars lose angular momentum and spin down as they age
.
We discuss the solar wind electron temperatures Te as measured in the nascent solar wind by Parker Solar Probe during its first perihelion pass. The measurements have been obtained by fitting the ...high-frequency part of quasi-thermal noise spectra recorded by the Radio Frequency Spectrometer. In addition we compare these measurements with those obtained by the electrostatic analyzer discussed in Halekas et al. These first electron observations show an anticorrelation between Te and the wind bulk speed V: this anticorrelation is most likely the remnant of the well-known mapping observed at 1 au and beyond between the fast wind and its coronal hole sources, where electrons are observed to be cooler than in the quiet corona. We also revisit Helios electron temperature measurements and show, for the first time, that an in situ ( ) anticorrelation is well observed at 0.3 au but disappears as the wind expands, evolves, and mixes with different electron temperature gradients for different wind speeds.
During three of its first five orbits around the Sun, Parker Solar Probe (PSP) crossed the large-scale heliospheric current sheet (HCS) multiple times and provided unprecedented detailed plasma and ...field observations of the near-Sun HCS. We report the common detections by PSP of reconnection exhaust signatures in the HCS at heliocentric distances of 29.5–107 solar radii during encounters 1, 4, and 5. Both sunward and antisunward-directed reconnection exhausts were observed. In the sunward reconnection exhausts, PSP detected counterstreaming strahl electrons, indicating that HCS reconnection resulted in the formation of closed magnetic field lines with both ends connected to the Sun. In the antisunward exhausts, PSP observed dropouts of strahl electrons, consistent with the reconnected HCS field lines being disconnected from the Sun. The common detection of reconnection in the HCS suggests that reconnection is almost always active in the HCS near the Sun. Furthermore, the occurrence of multiple long-duration partial crossings of the HCS suggests that HCS reconnection could produce chains of large bulges with spatial dimensions of up to several solar radii. The finding of the prevalence of reconnection in the HCS is somewhat surprising since PSP has revealed that the HCS is much thicker than the kinetic scales required for reconnection onset. The observations are also in stark contrast with the apparent absence of reconnection in most of the small-scale and much more intense current sheets encountered near perihelia, many of which are associated with “switchbacks”. Thus, the PSP findings suggest that large-scale dynamics, either locally in the solar wind or within the coronal source of the HCS (at the tip of helmet streamers), plays a critical role in triggering reconnection onset.
Aims.
We survey the electron heat flux observed by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) in the near-Sun environment at heliocentric distances of 0.125–0.25 AU.
Methods.
We utilized measurements from the ...Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons and FIELDS experiments to compute the solar wind electron heat flux and its components and to place these in context.
Results.
The PSP observations reveal a number of trends in the electron heat flux signatures near the Sun. The magnitude of the heat flux is anticorrelated with solar wind speed, likely as a result of the lower saturation heat flux in the higher-speed wind. When divided by the saturation heat flux, the resulting normalized net heat flux is anticorrelated with plasma beta on all PSP orbits, which is consistent with the operation of collisionless heat flux regulation mechanisms. The net heat flux also decreases in very high beta regions in the vicinity of the heliospheric current sheet, but in most cases of this type the omnidirectional suprathermal electron flux remains at a comparable level or even increases, seemingly inconsistent with disconnection from the Sun. The measured heat flux values appear inconsistent with regulation primarily by collisional mechanisms near the Sun. Instead, the observed heat flux dependence on plasma beta and the distribution of suprathermal electron parameters are both consistent with theoretical instability thresholds associated with oblique whistler and magnetosonic modes.
Switchbacks (rotations of the magnetic field) are observed on the Parker Solar Probe. Their evolution, content, and plasma effects are studied in this paper. The solar wind does not receive a net ...acceleration from switchbacks that it encountered upstream of the observation point. The typical switchback rotation angle increased with radial distance. Significant Poynting fluxes existed inside, but not outside, switchbacks, and the dependence of the Poynting flux amplitude on the switchback radial location and rotation angle is explained quantitatively as being proportional to (B sin(θ))2. The solar wind flow inside switchbacks was faster than that outside due to the frozen-in ions moving with the magnetic structure at the Alfvén speed. This energy gain results from the divergence of the Poynting flux from outside to inside the switchback, which produces a loss of electromagnetic energy on switchback entry and recovery of that energy on exit, with the lost energy appearing in the plasma flow. Switchbacks contain 0.3-10 Hz waves that may result from currents and the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability that occurs at the switchback boundaries. These waves may combine with lower frequency magnetohydrodynamic waves to heat the plasma.
Several fast solar wind streams and stream interaction regions (SIRs) were observed by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) during its first orbit (2018 September-2019 January). During this time, several ...recurring SIRs were also seen at 1 au at both L1 (Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) and Wind) and the location of the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory-Ahead (STEREO-A). In this paper, we compare four fast streams observed by PSP at different radial distances during its first orbit. For three of these fast stream events, measurements from L1 (ACE and Wind) and STEREO-A indicated that the fast streams were observed by both PSP and at least one of the 1 au monitors. Our associations are supported by simulations made by the ENLIL model driven by GONG-(ADAPT-)WSA, which allows us to contextualize the inner heliospheric conditions during the first orbit of PSP. Additionally, we determine which of these fast streams are associated with an SIR and characterize the SIR properties for these events. From these comparisons, we find that the compression region associated with the fast-speed streams overtaking the preceding solar wind can form at various radial distances from the Sun in the inner heliosphere inside 0.5 au, with the suprathermal ion population (energies between 30 and 586 keV) observed as isolated enhancements suggesting localized acceleration near the SIR stream interface at ∼0.3 au, which is unlike those seen at 1 au, where the suprathermal enhancements extend throughout and behind the SIR. This suprathermal enhancement extends further into the fast stream with increasing distance from the Sun.
We draw a comparison between a solar energetic particle event associated with the release of a slow coronal mass ejection close to the Sun, and the energetic particle population produced in high ...current density field-aligned current structures associated with auroral phenomena in planetary magnetospheres. We suggest that this process is common in CME development and lift off in the corona, and may account for the electron populations that generate Type III radio bursts, as well as for the prompt energetic ion and electron populations typically observed in interplanetary space.
Aims.
We report the observation by Parker Solar Probe (PSP) of magnetic structures in the solar wind that present a strong peak in their magnetic field magnitude with an embedded central current ...sheet. Similar structures have been observed, either at the Earth’s magnetopause and called interlinked flux tubes, or in the solar wind and called interplanetary field enhancements.
Methods.
In this work, we first investigate two striking events in detail; one occurred in the regular slow solar wind on November 2, 2018 and the other was observed during a heliospheric current sheet crossing on November 13, 2018. They both show the presence of a central current sheet with a visible ion jet and general characteristics consistent with the occurrence of magnetic reconnection. We then performed a survey of PSP data from encounters 1 to 4 and find 18 additional events presenting an increase in the magnetic field magnitude of over 30% and a central current sheet. We performed a statistical study on the 20 “magnetic increases with central current sheet” (MICCS), with 13 observed in the regular slow solar wind with a constant polarity (i.e., identical strahl direction), and 7 which were specifically observed near a heliospheric current sheet crossing.
Results.
We analyze and discuss the general properties of the structures, including the duration, location, amplitude, and magnetic topology, as well as the characteristics of their central current sheet. We find that the latter has a preferential orientation in the TN plane of the RTN frame. We also find no significant change in the dust impact rate in the vicinity of the MICCS under study, leading us to conclude that dust probably plays no role in the MICCS formation and evolution. Our findings are overall consistent with a double flux tube-configuration that would result from initially distinct flux tubes which interact during solar wind propagation.
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