ALBERT

Description: [1]  On 21 January 2005, one of the fastest interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICME) of solar cycle 23, containing exceptionally dense plasma directly behind the sheath, hit the magnetosphere. We show from charge-state analysis that this material was a piece of the erupting solar filament, and further, based on comparisons to the simulation of a fast CME, that the unusual location of the filament material was a consequence of three processes. As the ICME decelerated, the momentum of the dense filament material caused it to push through the flux rope towards the nose. Diverging non-radial flows in front of the filament moved magnetic flux to the sides of the ICME. At the same time reconnection between the leading edge of the ICME and the sheath magnetic fields worked to peel away the outer layers of the flux rope creating a remnant flux rope and a trailing region of newly opened magnetic field lines. These processes combined to move the filament material into direct contact with the ICME sheath region. Within one hour after impact and under northward IMF conditions, a cold dense plasma sheet formed within the magnetosphere from the filament material. Dense plasma sheet material continued to move through the magnetosphere for more than 6 hours as the filament passed by the Earth. Densities were high enough to produce strong diamagnetic stretching of the magnetotail despite the northward IMF conditions and low levels of magnetic activity. The disruptions from the filament collision are linked to an array of unusual features throughout the magnetosphere, ionosphere and atmosphere. These results raise questions about whether rare collisions with solar filaments may, under the right conditions, be a factor in producing even more extreme events.

Description: We examine a three-dimensional (3-D) numerical magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation describing a very fast interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) propagating from the solar corona to 1 AU. In conjunction with its high speed, the ICME evolves in ways that give it a unique appearance at 1AU that does not resemble a typical ICME. First, as the ICME decelerates far from the Sun in the solar wind, filament material at the back of the flux rope pushes its way forward through the flux rope. Second, diverging nonradial flows in front of the filament transport poloidal flux of the rope to the sides of the ICME. Third, the magnetic flux rope reconnects with the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). As a consequence of these processes, the flux rope partially unravels and appears to evolve to an entirely unbalanced configuration. At the same time, filament material at the base of the flux rope moves forward and comes in direct contact with the shocked plasma in the CME sheath. We find evidence that such remarkable behavior has actually occurred when we examine a very fast CME that erupted from the Sun on 2005 January 20. In situ observations of this event near 1 AU show very dense cold material impacting the Earth following immediately behind the CME sheath. Charge state analysis shows this dense plasma is filament material. Consistent with the simulation, we find the poloidal flux (Bz) to be entirely unbalanced, giving the appearance that the flux rope has eroded. The dense solar filament material and unbalanced positive IMF Bz produced a number of anomalous features in a moderate magnetic storm already underway, which are described in a companion paper by Kozyra et al. [2014]

Description: While the source of the fast solar wind is known to be coronal holes, the source of the slow solar wind has remained a mystery. Long timescale trends in the composition and charge states show strong correlations between solar wind velocity and plasma parameters, yet these correlations have proved ineffective in determining the slow wind source. We take advantage of new high time resolution (12 min) measurements of solar wind composition and charge-state abundances at L1 and previously identified 90-minute quasi-periodic structures to probe the fundamental timescales of slow wind variability. The combination of new high temporal resolution composition measurements and the clearly identified boundaries of the periodic structures allows us to utilize these distinct solar wind parcels as tracers of slow wind origin and acceleration. We find that each 90-minute (2000 Mm) parcel of slow wind has near-constant speed, yet exhibits repeatable, systematic charge state and composition variations that span the entire range of statistically determined slow solar wind values. The classic composition-velocity correlations do not hold on short, ∼hour long, time scales. Furthermore, the data demonstrate that these structures were created by magnetic reconnection. Our results impose severe new constraints on slow solar wind origin, and provide new, compelling evidence that the slow wind results from the sporadic release of closed-field plasma via magnetic reconnection at the boundary between open and closed flux in the Sun's atmosphere.

Description: The solar neighbourhood is the closest and most easily studied sample of the Galactic interstellar medium, an understanding of which is essential for models of star formation and galaxy evolution. Observations of an unexpectedly intense diffuse flux of easily absorbed 1/4-kiloelectronvolt X-rays, coupled with the discovery that interstellar space within about a hundred parsecs of the Sun is almost completely devoid of cool absorbing gas, led to a picture of a 'local cavity' filled with X-ray-emitting hot gas, dubbed the local hot bubble. This model was recently challenged by suggestions that the emission could instead be readily produced within the Solar System by heavy solar-wind ions exchanging electrons with neutral H and He in interplanetary space, potentially removing the major piece of evidence for the local existence of million-degree gas within the Galactic disk. Here we report observations showing that the total solar-wind charge-exchange contribution is approximately 40 per cent of the 1/4-keV flux in the Galactic plane. The fact that the measured flux is not dominated by charge exchange supports the notion of a million-degree hot bubble extending about a hundred parsecs from the Sun.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Galeazzi, M -- Chiao, M -- Collier, M R -- Cravens, T -- Koutroumpa, D -- Kuntz, K D -- Lallement, R -- Lepri, S T -- McCammon, D -- Morgan, K -- Porter, F S -- Robertson, I P -- Snowden, S L -- Thomas, N E -- Uprety, Y -- Ursino, E -- Walsh, B M -- England -- Nature. 2014 Aug 14;512(7513):171-3. doi: 10.1038/nature13525. Epub 2014 Jul 27.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Physics, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33124, USA. ; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA. ; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA. ; Universite Versailles St Quentin; Sorbonne Universites, UPMC Universite Paris 06; CNRS/INSU, LATMOS-IPSL, Guyancourt 78280, France. ; The Henry A. Rowland Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA. ; GEPI Observatoire de Paris, CNRS UMR 8111, Universite Paris Diderot, 92190, Meudon, France. ; Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA. ; Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA. ; 1] NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA [2] Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25079321" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Recent measurements near comets, planets, and their satellites have shown that heavy ions, energetic neutral atoms, molecular ions and charged dust contain a wealth of information about the origin, evolution, and interaction of celestial bodies with their space environment. Using highly sensitive plasma instruments, positively charged heavy ions have been used to trace exospheric and surface composition of comets, planets and satellites as well as the composition of interplanetary and interstellar dust. While positive ions dominate throughout the heliosphere, negative ions are also produced from surface interactions. In fact, laboratory experiments have shown that oxygen released from rocky surfaces is mostly negatively charged. Negative ions and negatively charged nanograins have been detected with plasma electron analyzers in several different environments (e.g., by Cassini and Rosetta), though more extensive studies have been challenging without instrumentation dedicated to negative ions. We discuss an adaptation of the Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer (FIPS) flown on MESSENGER for the measurement of negatively charged particles. MESSENGER/FIPS successfully measured the plasma environment of Mercury from 2011 until 2015, when the mission ended, and has been used to map multiple ion species (H+ through Na + and beyond) throughout Mercury's space environment. Modifications to the existing instrument design fits within a 3U CubeSat volume, and would provide a low mass, low power instrument, ideal for future CubeSat or distributed sensor missions seeking, for the first time, to characterize the contribution of negative particles in the heliospheric plasmas near the planets, moons, comets and other sources.

Description: [1]  Recent in situ observations of the solar wind show that charge states (e.g., the O 7+ /O 6+ and C 6+ /C 5+ abundance ratios) evolved through the extended, deep solar minimum between solar cycle 23 and 24 (i.e., from 2006 to 2009) reflecting cooler electron temperatures in the corona. We extend previous analyses to study the evolution of the coronal electron temperature through the protracted solar minimum and observe not only the reduction in coronal temperature in the cycle 23-24 solar minimum, but also a small increase in coronal temperature associated with increasing activity during the “mini-maximum” in cycle 24. We use a new model of the interplanetary magnetic flux since 1749 to estimate coronal electron temperatures over more than two centuries. The reduction in coronal electron temperature in the cycle 23-24 protracted solar minimum is similar to reductions observed at the beginning of the Dalton Minimum (~1805 - 1840). If these trends continue to reflect the evolution of the Dalton Minimum, we will observe further reductions in coronal temperature in the cycle 24-25 solar minimum. Preliminary indications in 2013 do suggest a further post-cycle 23 decline in solar activity. Thus, we extend our understanding of coronal electron temperature using the solar wind scaling law, and compare recent reductions in coronal electron temperature in the protracted solar minimum to conditions that prevailed in the Dalton Minimum.

Description: The Solar Orbiter mission seeks to make connections between the physical processes occurring at the Sun or in the solar corona and the nature of the solar wind created by those processes which is subsequently observed at the spacecraft. The mission also targets physical processes occurring in the solar wind itself during its journey from its source to the spacecraft. To meet the specific mission science goals, Solar Orbiter will be equipped with both remote-sensing and in-situ instruments which will make unprecedented measurements of the solar atmosphere and the inner heliosphere. A crucial set of measurements will be provided by the Solar Wind Analyser (SWA) suite of instruments. This suite consists of an Electron Analyser System (SWA-EAS), a Proton and Alpha particle Sensor (SWA-PAS), and a Heavy Ion Sensor (SWA-HIS) which are jointly served by a central control and data processing unit (SWA-DPU). Together these sensors will measure and categorise the vast majority of thermal and suprathermal ions and electrons in the solar wind and determine the abundances and charge states of the heavy ion populations. The three sensors in the SWA suite are each based on the top hat electrostatic analyser concept, which has been deployed on numerous space plasma missions. The SWA-EAS uses two such heads, each of which have 360° azimuth acceptance angles and ±45° aperture deflection plates. Together these two sensors, which are mounted on the end of the boom, will cover a full sky field-of-view (FoV) (except for blockages by the spacecraft and its appendages) and measure the full 3D velocity distribution function (VDF) of solar wind electrons in the energy range of a few eV to ∼5 keV. The SWA-PAS instrument also uses an electrostatic analyser with a more confined FoV (−24° to +42° × ±22.5° around the expected solar wind arrival direction), which nevertheless is capable of measuring the full 3D VDF of the protons and alpha particles arriving at the instrument in the energy range from 200 eV/q to 20 keV/e. Finally, SWA-HIS measures the composition and 3D VDFs of heavy ions in the bulk solar wind as well as those of the major constituents in the suprathermal energy range and those of pick-up ions. The sensor resolves the full 3D VDFs of the prominent heavy ions at a resolution of 5 min in normal mode and 30 s in burst mode. Additionally, SWA-HIS measures 3D VDFs of alpha particles at a 4 s resolution in burst mode. Measurements are over a FoV of −33° to +66° × ±20° around the expected solar wind arrival direction and at energies up to 80 keV/e. The mass resolution (m/Δm) is 〉 5. This paper describes how the three SWA scientific sensors, as delivered to the spacecraft, meet or exceed the performance requirements originally set out to achieve the mission’s science goals. We describe the motivation and specific requirements for each of the three sensors within the SWA suite, their expected science results, their main characteristics, and their operation through the central SWA-DPU. We describe the combined data products that we expect to return from the suite and provide to the Solar Orbiter Archive for use in scientific analyses by members of the wider solar and heliospheric communities. These unique data products will help reveal the nature of the solar wind as a function of both heliocentric distance and solar latitude. Indeed, SWA-HIS measurements of solar wind composition will be the first such measurements made in the inner heliosphere. The SWA data are crucial to efforts to link the in situ measurements of the solar wind made at the spacecraft with remote observations of candidate source regions. This is a novel aspect of the mission which will lead to significant advances in our understanding of the mechanisms accelerating and heating the solar wind, driving eruptions and other transient phenomena on the Sun, and controlling the injection, acceleration, and transport of the energetic particles in the heliosphere.

Description: Solar Orbiter’s in situ coordination working group met frequently during the development of the mission with the goal of ensuring that its in situ payload has the necessary level of coordination to maximise science return. Here we present the results of that work, namely how the design of each of the in situ instruments (EPD, MAG, RPW, SWA) was guided by the need for coordination, the importance of time synchronisation, and how science operations will be conducted in a coordinated way. We discuss the mechanisms by which instrument sampling schemes are aligned such that complementary measurements will be made simultaneously by different instruments, and how burst modes are scheduled to allow a maximum overlap of burst intervals between the four instruments (telemetry constraints mean different instruments can spend different amounts of time in burst mode). We also explain how onboard autonomy, inter-instrument communication, and selective data downlink will be used to maximise the number of transient events that will be studied using high-resolution modes of all the instruments. Finally, we briefly address coordination between Solar Orbiter’s in situ payload and other missions.

Description: Solar Orbiter is the first space mission observing the solar plasma both in situ and remotely, from a close distance, in and out of the ecliptic. The ultimate goal is to understand how the Sun produces and controls the heliosphere, filling the Solar System and driving the planetary environments. With six remote-sensing and four in-situ instrument suites, the coordination and planning of the operations are essential to address the following four top-level science questions: (1) What drives the solar wind and where does the coronal magnetic field originate?; (2) How do solar transients drive heliospheric variability?; (3) How do solar eruptions produce energetic particle radiation that fills the heliosphere?; (4) How does the solar dynamo work and drive connections between the Sun and the heliosphere? Maximising the mission’s science return requires considering the characteristics of each orbit, including the relative position of the spacecraft to Earth (affecting downlink rates), trajectory events (such as gravitational assist manoeuvres), and the phase of the solar activity cycle. Furthermore, since each orbit’s science telemetry will be downloaded over the course of the following orbit, science operations must be planned at mission level, rather than at the level of individual orbits. It is important to explore the way in which those science questions are translated into an actual plan of observations that fits into the mission, thus ensuring that no opportunities are missed. First, the overarching goals are broken down into specific, answerable questions along with the required observations and the so-called Science Activity Plan (SAP) is developed to achieve this. The SAP groups objectives that require similar observations into Solar Orbiter Observing Plans, resulting in a strategic, top-level view of the optimal opportunities for science observations during the mission lifetime. This allows for all four mission goals to be addressed. In this paper, we introduce Solar Orbiter’s SAP through a series of examples and the strategy being followed.