INTERACTION OF SOLAR PLASMA STREAMS WITH THE OUTER GEOMAGNETIC FIELD

Technical Report · Wed May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1963

OSTI ID:4151816

Obayashi, T

The general nature of the magnetic field surrounding the earth is discussed using various measurements made by space probes since 1958. It is shown that the outer geomagnetic field consists of two regions: the standing shock layer and the geomagnetic cavity. The pattern of these regions in the equatorial plane is shown in a frame fixed to the sun. The shock layer, in which turbulent fluctuations of magnetic field are characteristic, appears beyond 10 earth's radii in the sunward side even in a geomagnetically quiet period. The shape of the shock front (the boundary to a quiescent interplanetary plasma) is approximated as a hyperbola, with a stand-off distance of the order of 5 earth's radii. This standing shock layer is terminated by the geomagnetic field cavity inside, being a spherical shape in the day-side and an elongated tail in the night-side. Also, the axis of symmetry of this pattern seems to be tilted somewhat towards west of the sun. The ordinary shock theory of a continuous flow is applied, assuming that the interacting plasma is magnetized so that the mean free path may be replaced by the Larmor radius of the medium. The theoretical estimations of the shock position and the size of the geomagnetic cavity are then compared with the observed ones. It is found that the observed shock wave is consistent for a supersonic flow of Mach number of 2 to 5. The estimated values of a typical quiescent solar plasma stream are given. (auth)

• Research Organization: Nagoya, Japan. Univ. Inst. of Plasma Physics
• NSA Number: NSA-18-002723
• OSTI ID: 4151816
• Report Number(s): IPPJ-12
• Country of Publication: Country unknown/Code not available
• Language: English

Related Subjects

BEAMS
CIRCUITS
CONFIGURATION
DETECTION
EARTH
FLUID FLOW
INTERACTIONS
LAYERS
LEVELS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PHYSICS
PLASMA
RESONANCE
SHOCK WAVES
SUN
SURFACES
TURBULENCE
ULTRASONICS