MAGNETIC FLUX CONSERVATION IN THE HELIOSHEATH
- Kavli Center for Astrophysics and Space Science Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 673, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
- Applied Physics Laboratory, The Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, MD 20723 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 (United States)
- Institute for Astrophysics and Computational Sciences, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064 (United States)
- Astronomy Department, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 (United States)
Voyager 1(V1) and Voyager 2(V2) have observed heliosheath plasma since 2005 December and 2007 August, respectively. The observed speed profiles are very different at the two spacecrafts. Speeds at V1 decreased to zero in 2010 while the average speed at V2 is a constant 150 km s{sup -1} with the direction rotating tailward. The magnetic flux is expected to be constant in these heliosheath flows. We show that the flux is constant at V2 but decreases by an order of magnitude at V1, even after accounting for divergence of the flows and changes in the solar field. If reconnection were responsible for this decrease, the magnetic field would lose 70% of its free energy to reconnection and the energy density released would be 0.6 eV cm{sup -3}.
- OSTI ID:
- 22078356
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 762, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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