English

Characteristics and Source Regions of Slow Alfvenic Solar Wind Observed by Parker Solar Probe

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics 2024-09-18 v2 Plasma Physics Space Physics

Abstract

Using a classification scheme for solar wind type based on the heliocentric distance of the observation, we look at near perihelion observations from Parker Solar Probe Encounters Four to Fourteen to study the sources of the slow Alfveˊ\'enic solar wind (SASW). Through Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) modeling and ballistic mapping, we connect streams to their solar source and find that a primary population of SASW comes from low magnetic field strength regions (low-B0B_0), likely small coronal holes (CHs) and their over-expanded boundaries, while a second population of high field strength (high-B0B_0) seems to emerge from non-CH structures potentially through interchange reconnection with nearby open field lines. This low-B0B_0 SASW shows larger expansion than the fast solar wind (FSW) but similar mass flux, potentially indicating additional heating below the critical point, and emergence from a cooler structure, which could lead to slower wind emerging from CH-like structures. We show that this low-B0B_0 SASW shows stronger preferential acceleration of alpha particles (similar to the FSW) than the high-B0B_0 SASW, and that this is a velocity dependent phenomenon as found in previous studies. To have additional confidence in our mapping results, we quantify the error on both the PFSS model and ballistic mapping and discuss how additional multi-point observations of plasma parameters and composition would allow us to better constrain our models and connect the solar wind to its source.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2407.09684,
  title  = {Characteristics and Source Regions of Slow Alfvenic Solar Wind Observed by Parker Solar Probe},
  author = {Tamar Ervin and Kai Jaffarove and Samuel T. Badman and Jia Huang and Yeimy J. Rivera and Stuart D. Bale},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2407.09684},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

26 pages, 26 figures