ALBERT

Description: Pioneer 10 vector helium magnetometer data acquired in 1972-1973 during Bartels solar rotations 1896-1918 are used to investigate the radial dependences of the distant interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) between 1 and 5 AU. Least-square fits were determined for the radial dependences of the averages of the magnitudes of IMF components and total field and plane projections, and radial fits were prepared for the standard deviations of these variables over the solar rotation, one day, and three-hour intervals. The variation of the weighted averages of the radial component of the field with respect to the heliocentric distance, the variation of the tangential component of the field, and the characteristics of a subset corresponding to a relatively low average solar wind velocity are reported.

Description: We report on observations of the Earth's bow shock at unprecedentedly large downtail distances, some as remote as 360 R(sub E). Suprisingly, we find that even at these large distances, the bow shock signature remains clear. The cases we report are among the weakest shocks ever clearly identified. These shocks reveal patterns of field changes remarkably similar to those observed for stronger shocks. Indeed, several of the shocks could serve as textbook examples because they occur in unusually quiet and steady solar wind conditions. The quasi- perpendicular shocks are, in some cases preceded by whistler wave trains. Several of the shocks which have normal vectors in the transitional region between quasiperpendicular and quasiparallel are associated with large amplitude wave disturbances in the downstream plasma. Although low Mach number, these shocks are the source of large amplitude turbulence. We show a range of fits to the locations of the shock crossings, and argue that, for steady solar wind conditions, there is no sign of tail flapping. The displacement of the shock from the tail axis appears to be governed by the interplanetary magnetic field orientation as previously reported for Venus.

Description: As the Galileo spacecraft passed the asteroids Gaspra in 1990 and Ida in 1993, the magnetometer recorded changes in the solar wind magnetic field that we associate with the presence of the nearby body. This paper focuses on the types of interactions that can produce perturbations in the solar wind. We have suggested that the interaction at Gaspra is consistent with expectations of flow diversion by a magnetic dipole moment and an associated 'magnetosphere' whose scale size is much larger than the diameter of the solid body. The conditions for the Ida flyby leave more room for ambiguity. The observations could plausibly be related to either interaction with a magnetized body or with a conducting body. We will report on details of the observations that may enable us to distinguish between the different types of interaction and to provide quantitative estimates of the physical properties of the asteroids themselves.

Description: Data from Galileo's two asteroid flybys reveal magnetic fluctuations that we interpret as perturbations of the solar wind magnetic field caused by an interaction with the nearby asteroid. The scale sizes of the bodies (approximately 14 km for Gaspra and approximately 30 km for Ida) are intermediate between the ion and electron gyroradii, which implies that the asteroid-imposed perturbations propagate in the whistler mode. Special properties of the whistler mode include phase phase velocities that can exceed the solar wind speed and confinement of the disturbance to directions nearly aligned with the magnetic field. These features of the interaction impose a structure on the solar wind disturbance that differs greatly from the forms familiar for either magnetized or unmagnetized bodies of magnetohydrodynamic spatial scales. We examine both data and computer simulations of the interaction with special attention to what can be inferred about the interaction itself from analysis of the data.

Description: We present observations of the three-dimensional velocity distributions of protons in the energy range 20 eV to 52 keV at locations within and near the current sheet of Earth's magnetotail at geocentric radial distances 35 to 87 R(sub E). These measurements were acquired on December 8, 1990, with a set of electrostatic analyzers on board the Galileo spacecraft during its approach to Earth in order to obtain one of its gravitational assists to Jupiter. It is found that the velocity distributions are inadequately described as quasi-Maxwellian distributions such as those found in the central plasma sheet at positions nearer to Earth. Instead the proton velocity distributions can be categorized into two major types. The first type is the 'lima bean' shaped distribution with high-speed bulk flows and high temperatures that are similar to those found nearer to Earth in the plasma sheet boundary layer. The second type consists of colder protons with considerably lesser bulk flow speeds. Examples of velocity distributions are given for the plasma mantle, a region near the magnetic neutral line, positions earthward and tailward of the neutral line, and the plasma sheet boundary layer. At positions near the neutral line, only complex velocity distributions consisting of the colder protons are found, whereas both of the above types of distributions are found in and near the current sheet at earthward and tailward locations. Bulk flows are directed generally earthward and tailward at positions earthward and tailward of the neutral line, respectively. Only the high-speed, hot distribution is present in the plasma sheet boundary layer. The observations are interpreted in terms of the nonadiabatic acceleration of protons that flow into the current sheet from the plasma mantle. For this interpretation the hot, 'lima bean' shaped distributions are associated with meandering, or Speiser, orbits in the current sheet. It is suggested that the colder, lower-speed proton velocity distributions are the result of fractional or few gyromotions before ejection out of the current sheet, but this speculation must be further investigated with appropriate kinetic simulation of trajectories.

Description: On December 8, 1990, the Galileo spacecraft used the Earth for a gravity assist on its way to Jupiter. Its trajectory was such that it crossed geosynchronous orbit at approximately local midnight between 1900 and 2000 UT. At the same time, spacecraft 1984-129 was also located at geosynchronous orbit near local midnight. Several flux dropout events were observed when the two spacecraft were in the near-Earth plasma sheet in the same local time sector. Flux dropout events are associated with plasma sheet thinning in the near-profile of the near-Earth plasma sheet while 1984-129 provided an azimuthal profile. With measurements from these two spacecraft we can distinguish between spatial structures and temporal change. Our observations confirm that the geosynchronous flux dropout events are consistent with plasma sheet thinning which changes the spacecraft's magnetic connection from the trapping region to the more distant plasma sheet. However, for this period, thinning occurred on two spatial and temporal scales. The geosynchronous dropouts were highly localized phenomena of 30 min duration superimposed on a more global reconfiguration of the tail lasting approximately 4 hours.