Short-scale variations of the solar wind helium abundance

Journal Article · Wed Nov 20 00:00:00 EST 2013 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/778/1/25· OSTI ID:22342040

Šafránková, J.; Němeček, Z.; Cagaš, P.; Přech, L.; Pavlů, J. ^[1]; Zastenker, G. N.; Riazantseva, M. O.

---

1. Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, V Holešovičkách 2, 18000 Prague 8 (Czech Republic)

Abrupt changes of the relative He abundance in the solar wind are usually attributed to encounters with boundaries dividing solar wind streams from different sources in the solar corona. This paper presents a systematic study of fast variations of the He abundance that supports the idea that a majority of these variations on short timescales (3-30 s) are generated by in-transit turbulence that is probably driven by the speed difference between the ion species. This turbulence contributes to the solar wind heating and leads to a correlation of the temperature with He abundance.

• OSTI ID: 22342040
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 778, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ABUNDANCE
CORRELATIONS
HELIUM
SOLAR CORONA
SOLAR WIND
STREAMS
TURBULENCE
VELOCITY