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We present observations of the same magnetic cloud made near Earth by the Advance Composition Explorer (ACE), Wind, and the Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) mission comprising the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) B and THEMIS C spacecraft, and later by Juno at a distance of 1.2 AU. The spacecraft were close to radial alignment throughout the event, with a longitudinal separation of $3.6^{\circ}$ 3.6 ∘ between Juno and the spacecraft near Earth. The magnetic cloud likely originated from a filament eruption on 22 October 2011 at 00:05 UT, and caused a strong geomagnetic storm at Earth commencing on 24 October. Observations of the magnetic cloud at each spacecraft have been analysed using minimum variance analysis and two flux rope fitting models, Lundquist and Gold–Hoyle, to give the orientation of the flux rope axis. We explore the effect different trailing edge boundaries have on the results of each analysis method, and find a clear difference between the orientations of the flux rope axis at the near-Earth spacecraft and Juno, independent of the analysis method. The axial magnetic field strength and the radial width of the flux rope are calculated using both observations and fitting parameters and their relationship with heliocentric distance is investigated. Differences in results between the near-Earth spacecraft and Juno are attributed not only to the radial separation, but to the small longitudinal separation which resulted in a surprisingly large difference in the in situ observations between the spacecraft. This case study demonstrates the utility of Juno cruise data as a new opportunity to study magnetic clouds beyond 1 AU, and the need for caution in future radial alignment studies.

Sheaths ahead of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are large heliospheric structures that form with CME expansion and propagation. Turbulent and compressed sheaths contribute to the acceleration of particles in the corona and in interplanetary space, but the relation of their internal structures to particle energization is still relatively little studied. In particular, the role of sheaths in accelerating particles when the shock Mach number is low is a significant open problem. This work seeks to provide new insights on the internal structure of CME sheaths with regard to energetic particle enhancements. A good opportunity to achieve this aim was provided by observations of a sheath made by radially aligned spacecraft at 0.8 and $\sim$ 1 AU (Solar Orbiter, Wind, ACE and BepiColombo) on 19-21 April 2020. The sheath was preceded by a weak shock. Energetic ion enhancements occurred at different locations within the sheath structure at Solar Orbiter and L1. Magnetic fluctuation amplitudes at inertial-range scales increased in the sheath relative to the upstream wind. However, when normalised to the local mean field, fluctuation amplitudes did not increase significantly; magnetic compressibility of fluctuation also did not increase. Various substructures were embedded within the sheath at the different spacecraft, including multiple heliospheric current sheet (HCS) crossings and a small-scale flux rope. At L1, the ion flux enhancement was associated with the HCS crossings, while at Solar Orbiter, the enhancement occurred within the rope. Substructures that are swept from the upstream solar wind and compressed in the sheath can act as particularly effective acceleration sites. A possible acceleration mechanism is betatron acceleration associated with the small-scale flux rope and the warped HCS in the sheath., 14 pages, 12 figures; published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, Solar Orbiter First Results (Cruise Phase) special issue

International audience; The magnetometer instrument on the Solar Orbiter mission is designed to measure the magnetic field local to the spacecraft continuously for the entire mission duration. The need to characterise not only the background magnetic field but also its variations on scales from far above to well below the proton gyroscale result in challenging requirements on stability, precision, and noise, as well as magnetic and operational limitations on both the spacecraft and other instruments. The challenging vibration and thermal environment has led to significant development of the mechanical sensor design. The overall instrument design, performance, data products, and operational strategy are described.

During November 1992, a series of forward and reverse shocks passed the ULYSSES spacecraft. Spectral and anisotropy measurements are reported for protons and alpha particles between 0.28 and 6 MeV observed by the Energetic Particle Composition Experiment, data recorded by the Magnetometer Experiment and the high-energy (2.7–300 MeV) proton data from the Kiel Electron Telescope. An analysis of energetic particle, plasma and magnetometer data from ULYSSES has allowed a unique study of the corresponding arrival of fare particles, particles within a corotating interaction region and particles transported with a coronal mass ejection. We present an analysis of these data in terms of possible diffusive shock acceleration but conclude that this is likely to be incompatible with the short transit time of the particles. Shock drift acceleration of particles with energies 0.3 MeV/nucleon or solar acceleration followed by particle trapping behind the shock front are alternative possibilities.

The images taken by the Heliospheric Imager (HI) instruments, part of the SECCHI imaging package on board the pair of STEREO spacecraft, provide information on the radial and latitudinal evolution of the plasma transported by coronal mass ejections (CMEs). In this case study, a CME, appearing near 15 UT on 2007 November 15 in SECCHI coronagraph images, leads to the formation of two out-flowing density structures (DSs) in the heliosphere. The analysis of time-elongation maps constructed from images obtained by the HI instruments shows that these DSs were propagating along the Sun-Earth line. A direct comparison of HI images and in situ measurements taken near Earth could therefore be performed. These two DSs are separated by a cavity associated with little brightness variation or equivalently little electron density variation. In situ measurements made in the solar wind near Earth on 2007 November 20 show that this cavity corresponds to a magnetic cloud (MC). While the leading DS is related to the sheath in front of the MC, the second DS is located on the sunward side of the MC where high-speed solar wind from a coronal hole catches up and interacts with the MC. We conclude that HI observes the sub-structures of a merged interaction region (MIR), a region of the interplanetary medium where the total solar wind pressure is greatly enhanced by the interaction of an MC with the ambient solar wind. This MIR caused the largest geomagnetic storm in 2007.

We present the first observational evidence of the near-Sun distortion of the leading edge of a coronal mass ejection (CME) by the ambient solar wind into a concave structure. On 2007 November 14, a CME was observed by coronagraphs onboard the STEREO-B spacecraft, possessing a circular cross section. Subsequently the CME passed through the field of view of the STEREO-B Heliospheric Imagers where the leading edge was observed to distort into an increasingly concave structure. The CME observations are compared to an analytical flux rope model constrained by a magnetohydrodynamic solar wind solution. The resultant bimodal speed profile is used to kinematically distort a circular structure that replicates the initial shape of the CME. The CME morphology is found to change rapidly over a relatively short distance. This indicates an approximate radial distance in the heliosphere where the solar wind forces begin to dominate over the magnetic forces of the CME influencing the shape of the CME.

We report recent observations of energetic particles at energies 1–40 MeV/n made by the COSPIN/LET instrument onboard the Ulysses spacecraft during the period of intense solar activity in August/September 2005 during the declining phase of solar cycle 23. Ulysses, having started its climb to high southern latitudes for the third time, was located at ~5 AU, at a helio-latitude of ~30 degrees south. It detected the arrival of a solar wind compound stream resulting from the merging of a series of fast halo CMEs ejected from the Sun in late August and early September 2005 and their interaction with the pre-existing pattern of solar wind Stream Interaction Regions (SIRs) in the ambient medium through which they propagated. The heavy ion intensities are observed by COSPIN/LET to remain elevated for at least 20 days following the very intense X17.0/3B solar flare on 7 September and its associated very fast CME (plane of sky projected CME speed ~2400 km s−1). We carry out an analysis of the composition of the particle increases observed at the location of the spacecraft. Although the composition signatures were predominantly Solar Energetic Particle (SEP)-like, after the passage of the compound stream over Ulysses, in association with a characteristic forward and reverse shock pair, the observations showed evidence of an enhanced He content.

This report assesses the current status of research relating the origin at the Sun, the evolution through the inner heliosphere and the effects on the inner heliosphere of the interplanetary counterparts of coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). The signatures of ICMEs measured by in-situ spacecraft are determined both by the physical processes associated with their origin in the low corona, as observed by space-borne coronagraphs, and by the physical processes occurring as the ICMEs propagate out through the inner heliosphere, interacting with the ambient solar wind. The solar and in-situ observations are discussed as are efforts to model the evolution of ICMEs from the Sun out to 1 AU.

While interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) are understood to be the heliospheric counterparts of CMEs, with signatures undeniably linked to the CME process, the variability of these signatures and questions about mapping to observed CME features raise issues that remain on the cutting edge of ICME research. These issues are discussed in the context of traditional understanding, and recent results using innovative analysis techniques are reviewed.

We have identified 91 Petschek-type exhausts associated with local, quasi-stationary magnetic reconnection in the solar wind in plasma and magnetic field data from the Ulysses spacecraft obtained over a wide range of heliocentric distances (1.4-5.4 AU) and latitudes (S79°-N65°). The characteristic signature of an exhaust was a brief (minutes) interval of accelerated or decelerated plasma flow within a bifurcated current sheet in which changes in magnetic field and flow velocity were correlated at one edge and anticorrelated at the other. Transitions from outside to inside the exhausts were always slow-mode-like, the exhausts appearing to an observer as encounters with closely spaced, forward-reverse, slow-mode wave (shock) pairs. The exhausts almost universally occurred in low-speed or interplanetary coronal mass ejection plasma having low proton β (

From all the transient events identified in interplanetary space by in-situ measurements, Magnetic Clouds (MCs) are among the most intriguing ones. They are a special kind of Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections (ICMEs), characterized by a well-defined magnetic field configuration. We use a list of 40 MCs detected by Ulysses to study bidirectional flows of protons in the 0.5 MeV energy range. Solar wind ions are also analysed in order to compare cloud to non-cloud ICMEs.The enhancement in freezing-in temperatures inside the clouds, obtained with data from the SWICS instrument, provides insights into processes occurring early during the ejection of the material and represents a complementary tool to differentiate cloud from non-cloud ICMEs. At higher energies, directional information for protons obtained with the EPAC instrument allows a comparison with previous results concerning bidirectional suprathermal electrons. The findings are qualitatively comparable. Apparently, the portion of bidirectional flows inside magnetic clouds is neither heavily dependent on distance from the Sun nor on parameters obtained from a flux rope model.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html

The first passage of the Ulysses spacecraft to high latitudes was during the declining phase of solar cycle 22. The recent second passage to high latitudes was close to the maximum of solar cycle 23. The axis of the dipolar component of the Sun's magnetic field was close to 90° from the spin axis, and the coronal neutral line extended up to high latitudes. A variable but generally slow solar wind was observed all the way up to the highest latitudes reached by Ulysses, as was the sector structure of the magnetic field. The high-latitude heliosphere was populated with intensities of energetic particles with energies around 1 MeV several orders of magnitude above background. We show how the changes in the Sun's magnetic field, the coronal holes, and the configuration of the heliosphere could be responsible for the differences between particle observations in the two orbits.

Observations during the recent ascent of Ulysses to the south polar region are reported. Large variations in field magnitude are associated principally with solar wind interaction regions. The observed spiral angle agrees reasonably well with the Parker model. The magnetic flux, the product of the radial field component and the square of the radial distance (r² BR), is independent of latitude implying non-radial expansion of the solar wind. Two magnetic sectors are present up to a latitude of ≈ −78° above which a single negative (inward) polarity is observed consistent with the polar field not yet having reversed. Crossings between sectors, extrapolated back to the sun, appear consistent with a single warped current sheet tilted slightly to the rotation axis. Field lines in the polar region passing near the current sheet originate at low latitudes. They provide access of high energy solar particles to the polar region.

Charge state distributions of heavy solar wind ions measured in interplanetary space can be used to probe the physical conditions in the solar corona. This paper presents a study of the charge state distributions and the magnetic topology of 56 coronal mass ejections (CMEs) observed in interplanetary space by the Ulysses spacecraft. The analysis of the data from the Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer (SWICS) instrument and the Vector Helium Magnetometer (VHM) experiment onboard Ulysses shows a clear correlation between the charge state distributions and the magnetic topology of CMEs. Almost all CMEs whose charge state distributions are shifted to higher charge states with respect to the ambient solar wind have the structure of magnetic clouds, whereas CMEs with the same charge state distributions as the surrounding solar wind do not show magnetic cloud structure. This correlation is found for CMEs observed at low, mid, and high solar latitudes. On the basis of the numerical solution of the ionization/recombination equations for oxygen and silicon, it is investigated which changes of the electron temperature, electron density, and the speed of the ions in the source region of the CMEs can reproduce the observations. It is shown that the main reason for the observed enhancement of higher charge states in the cloud CMEs is an increased electron temperature. However, the evolution of the density and velocity of the CMEs before the charge states freeze in cannot be neglected.

Pioneer and Ulysses observations of energetic particles and solar wind plasma and magnetic fields are analyzed to study particle transport in corotating interaction regions (CIRs) and near stream interfaces (SIs). Energetic particle diffusion with a lowered coefficient near the SIs as compared with the free solar wind may account for the energetic particle profiles in CIRs and for the modulation of Jovian electrons. Our analyses include examination of the magnetic power and variances perpendicular and parallel to the magnetic field for a range of wave numbers and for a range of conditions within two CIRs. Since the magnetic field immediately on either side of a SI, but near it, is not connected to either the forward shock or reverse shock, it is the cross-field motion of the energetic particles that is relevant. Since the cross-field transport is thought to be related to field line mixing, or random walk, we examined magnetic field fluctuations normal to the average field to determine whether any signature of reduced perpendicular particle transport could be found. Evidence consistent with reduced particle transport near the SI was indeed found when we examined time series of the 1-min averages of the magnetic field components. A planar magnetic structure was associated with the trailing unshocked layer following the SIs (i.e., SI to SI + 12 hours) and also with the entire CIRs, but it was not present in the free solar wind. We have quantitatively examined the effects of shear and compression on particle transport and conclude that the effects of shear and compression reduce particle transport in CIRs and in the vicinity of SIs.

Ulysses observed well-defined stream interaction regions, SIRs, associated with solar wind stream structure up to a latitude of S65° and shocks to at least a latitude of S71° during the second polar orbit. These SIRs and shocks produced a substantial heliospheric processing of the solar wind. Only a subset of the SIRs recurred on successive solar rotations and only about half of the well-defined SIRs observed poleward of S9.8° were bounded by forward-reverse shock pairs. The majority of the SIRs had local magnetic topologies and azimuthal orientations similar to, but meridional tilts different from, those observed in the first polar orbit when most SIRs corotated with the Sun. The irregular meridional tilts presumably were a consequence of a complex coronal geometry and the temporally evolving nature of the solar wind flow at this time. A lack of reverse shocks poleward of S54° (with one exception) and a lack of well defined SIRs poleward of S65° is evidence that SIRs develop more slowly with distance at high latitudes.

In this paper, magnetic and plasma measurements are used to analyze 17 interplanetary coronal mass ejections (CMEs) identified by Ulysses during its in-ecliptic passage to Jupiter. We focus on the expansion characteristics of these CMEs (as inferred from the time rate of change of the velocity profiles through the CMEs) and the properties of 14 forward shocks unambiguously associated with these CMEs. We highlight radial trends from 1 to 5.4 AU. Our results indicate that the CMEs are generally expanding at all heliocentric distances. With regard to the shocks preceding these ejecta, we note the following: (1) There is a clear tendency for the shock speed (in the upstream frame of reference) to decrease with increasing heliocentric distance as the CMEs transfer momentum to the ambient solar wind and slow down; (2) 86% of the shock fronts are oriented in the ecliptic plane such that their normals point westward (i.e., in the direction of planetary motion about the Sun), (3) 86% of the shocks are propagating toward the heliographic equator; and (4) no clear trend was found in the strength of the shocks versus heliocentric distance. These results are interpreted using simple dynamical arguments and are supported by fluid and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations.

Ulysses encountered two separate sequences of corotating interaction regions (CIRs) in 1992–3 and 1996–7 when the spacecraft was in the southern and northern solar hemispheres, respectively. We have examined magnetometer data from one event observed in each hemisphere. Using two separate analytical methods we provide evidence for the magnetic field vectors within these CIRs being strongly confined to a series of near-parallel planes. The distribution of the field within the interaction region is characteristic of that observed in planar magnetic structures. This planar order is evident over both small (3-hour) and large (whole event) scales. The CIRs display opposed north-south tilts that are consistent with previous authors' analysis of solar wind plasma data. These results are in direct agreement with the tilted dipole model of three-dimensional corotating stream interactions.

We examine the relation between the current sheet as derived from observations of the Sun's neutral line, and recurrent particle increases associated with co-rotating interactions regions (CIR) at 4 to 5 AU radial distance as observed by the Ulysses spacecraft during its rst out-of- ecliptic orbit around the Sun. We compare observations during the ascent to high southern latitudes, close to so- lar maximum, with observations during the return to the ecliptic from high northern latitudes, close to solar mini- mum, when the spacecraft was passing from the streamer belt to high-speed solar wind flow or vice-versa every solar rotation, and when regular recurrent particle increases were observed. Although conditions are very dierent, we show that the position of the Sun's neutral line, propagated out to the position of the spacecraft, can be used to explain the recurrence of the particle increases observed at 4-5 AU at Ulysses.

The Whole Sun Month campaign (August 10 to September 8, 1996) brought together a wide range of space-based and ground-based observations of the Sun and the interplanetary medium during solar minimum. The wealth of data collected provides a unique opportunity for testing coronal models. We develop a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model of the solar corona (from 1 to 30 solar radii) applicable to the WSM time period, using measurements of the photospheric magnetic field as boundary conditions for the calculation. We compare results from the computation with daily and synoptic white-light and emission images obtained from ground-based observations and the SOHO spacecraft and with solar wind measurements from the Ulysses and WIND spacecraft. The results from the MHD computation show good overall agreement with coronal and interplanetary structures, including the position and shape of the streamer belt, coronal hole boundaries, and the heliospheric current sheet. From the model, we can infer the source locations of solar wind properties measured in interplanetary space. We find that the slow solar wind typically maps back to near the coronal hole boundary, while the fast solar wind maps to regions deeper within the coronal holes. Quantitative disagreements between the MHD model and observations for individual features observed during Whole Sun Month give insights into possible improvements to the model.

In this report, we summarize measurements made by the plasma experiment on the Ulysses spacecraft during the period designated as “Whole Sun Month” (WSM, August 10 to September 8, 1996). This interval coincided with the return of solar wind variability at Ulysses. Ulysses was located at ∼ 28°N heliographic latitude, at a heliocentric distance of 4.25 AU, and on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth. In particular, we explore the evolution of the solar wind between the Sun and Ulysses for several rotations surrounding WSM. Specifically, we map Ulysses measurements back toward the Sun by applying a two-dimensional inverse MHD algorithm. This approach is compared with the commonly used constant speed (or ballistic) approximation. We find that the MHD mapping technique produces substantially better results when compared with solar observations. Both the Ulysses MHD-mapped results and the solar observations are consistent with a picture of a modestly tilted streamer belt (< 10°) that was deformed northward by an active region at 240° –; 270° longitude.

From October 1996 to January 1997, Ulysses was situated roughly above the west limb of the Sun as observed from Earth at a heliocentric distance of about 4.6 AU and a latitude of about 25 deg. This presents the first opportunity to compare Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) limb observations of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) directly with their solar wind counterparts far from the Sun using the Ulysses data. During this interval, large eruptive events were observed above the west limb of the Sun by the Large Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) on SOHO on October 5, November 28, and December 21-25, 1996. Using the combined plasma and magnetic field data from Ulysses, the October 5 event was clearly identified by several distinguishing signatures as a CME. The November 28 event was also identified as a CME that trailed fast ambient solar wind, although it was identified only by an extended interval of counterstreaming suprathermal electrons. The December 21 event was apparently characterized by a six-day interval of nearly radial field and a plasma rarefaction. For the numerous eruptive events observed by the LASCO coronagraph during December 23-25, Ulysses showed no distinct, CMEs, perhaps because of intermingling of two or more of the eruptive events. By mapping the Ulysses observations back in time to the Sun assuming a constant flow speed, we have identified intervals of plasma that were accelerated or decelerated between the LASCO and Ulysses observations.

The heliospheric magnetic field over the poles of the sun has been examined to identify intervals when the polarity of the magnetic field deviates significantly from the calculated Parker spiral, using Ulysses observations in 1994 and 1995, near solar minimum. Intervals with deviation > 90° have been identified, corresponding to magnetic field vectors pointing in the hemisphere opposite to that of the dominant polarity in the high speed solar wind originating in the polar coronal holes. The number of inversion periods decreases as the averaging period is increased from 1 to 12 hours. Their distribution was found to vary in time over the northern solar pole, where the average direction also deviated from the Parker direction. The propagation direction of waves during polarity inversions show that these are caused by large-scale folds in the magnetic field, rather than by opposite polarity magnetic flux tubes originating near the sun.

Ulysses observed a stable strong CIR from early 1992 through 1994 during its first journey into the southern hemisphere. After the rapid latitude scan in early 1995, Ulysses observed a weaker CIR from early 1996 to mid-1997 in the northern hemisphere as it traveled back to the ecliptic at the orbit of Jupiter. These two CIRs are the observational basis of the investigation into the latitudinal structure of CIRs. The first CIR was caused by an extension of the northern coronal hole into the southern hemisphere during declining solar activity, whereas the second CIR near solar minimum activity was caused by small warps in the streamer belt. The latitudinal structure is described through the presentation of three 26-day periods during the southern CIR. The first at 24 Ss hows the full plasma interaction region including fast and slow wind streams, the compressed shocked flows with embedded stream interface and heliospheric current sheet (HCS), and the forward and reverse shocks with associated accelerated ions and electrons. The second at 40 S exhibits only the reverse shock, accelerated particles, and the 26-day modulation of cosmic rays. The third at 60 Ss hows only the accelerated particles and modulated cosmic rays. The possible mechanisms for the access of the accelerated particles and the CIR-modulated cosmic rays to high latitudes above the plasma

Corotating Interaction Regions (CIRs) form as a consequence of the compression of the solar wind at the interface between fast speed streams and slow streams. Dynamic interaction of solar wind streams is a general feature of the heliospheric medium; when the sources of the solar wind streams are relatively stable, the interaction regions form a pattern which corotates with the Sun. The regions of origin of the high speed solar wind streams have been clearly identified as the coronal holes with their open magnetic field structures. The origin of the slow speed solar wind is less clear; slow streams may well originate from a range of coronal configurations adjacent to, or above magnetically closed structures. This article addresses the coronal origin of the stable pattern of solar wind streams which leads to the formation of CIRs. In particular, coronal models based on photospheric measurements are reviewed; we also examine the observations of kinematic and compositional solar wind features at 1 AU, their appearance in the stream interfaces (SIs) of CIRs, and their relationship to the structure of the solar surface and the inner corona; finally we summarise the Helios observations in the inner heliosphere of CIRs and their precursors to give a link between the optical observations on their solar origin and the in-situ plasma observations at 1 AU after their formation. The most important question that remains to be answered concerning the solar origin of CIRs is related to the origin and morphology of the slow solar wind.

An overall profile of plasma wave activity in a frequency range of 0.2 to 448 Hz in the solar wind is presented using 6 years of Ulysses data which cover a large range of heliographic latitudes (0° to ±80° ) at distances from 1 to 5 AU from the Sun. The spacecraft has continuously observed wave activity with peak power below the local electron cyclotron frequency f ce . Four distinct types of fluctuation phenomena have been observed: (1) enhanced electromagnetic fluctuations associated with the interplanetary shocks and heliospheric current sheet crossings and other solar wind turbulence; (2) enhanced electromagnetic fluctuations associated with compression regions of high-speed stream interfaces, which were observed in periods of increasing solar wind velocity; (3) electric fluctuations associated with the expanding solar wind, which were observed in periods of decreasing solar wind velocity; and (4) enhanced electric fluctuations in the high-latitude fast solar wind plasma. The fourth type of wave activity was observed nearly continuously with the relative power observed peaked near the local f ce . The first three types of waves were observed in the heliomagnetic streamer belt flows, where the spacecraft frequently encountered enhanced solar wind turbulence, interplanetary shocks, and current sheet crossings. The electromagnetic wave bursts (types 1 and 2) are likely to be whistler mode. The occurrences of apparently electrostatic waves during periods of expanding solar wind are coincident with significant reductions in the electron heat flux intensity. The generation mechanism of these electrostatic waves is still under investigation, but the observations may imply that these waves reduce the intensity of the heat flux through enhanced wave particle scattering associated with a heat flux instability.

The Ulysses spacecraft encountered 160 interplanetary shock waves between the time of its launch in October 1990 and the end of 1993 when it reached 48° S heliographic latitude. The onboard radio and plasma wave instrument observed many plasma waves associated with these shocks. Electrostatic waves at frequencies between the ion and electron plasma frequencies are observed intermittently throughout the solar wind but are often strongly enhanced near the shocks. These waves are usually interpreted as ion acoustic waves that have been Doppler shifted to the observed frequencies. They show very diverse characteristics in their amplitude and in their temporal behavior relative to the time of the shock passage at Ulysses. They are most likely to occur within a few minutes of shock passage, but on average they are enhanced above background levels for several hours before and after passage of the shock. The temporal behavior of the probability of occurrence of these waves is roughly symmetric relative to the time of shock passage and furthermore is quite similiar for quasi-parallel and quasi-perpendicular shocks and for forward and reverse shocks. These waves are correlated with several of the local plasma parameters measured by the Ulysses plasma instrument, most strongly with Te/Tp, the ratio of electron temperature to proton temperature, and with the electron heat flux. There is no significant correlation of the waves with the upstream plasma β or the shock strength. The similiarity of the quasi-parallel and quasi-perpendicular cases implies that the mechanism for wave generation is not sensitive to θBn, the angle between the upstream magnetic field and the shock normal. Examination of the particle distribution function at the shocks indicate that beams in the proton distribution function and enhanced electron heat flux may contribute to driving the waves unstable, particularly when Te/Tp is small.

The Ulysses spacecraft crossed from the slow dense solar wind characteristic of the solar streamer belt into the fast, less dense flow from the northern polar coronal hole over a very short interval (several days) in late March 1995. The spacecraft, which was at 1.35 AU and {approximately}19{degree} north heliographic latitude, moving northward in its orbit, remained in the fast solar wind from then through summer 1996. This boundary crossing is unique in that the combination of the spacecraft motion and rotation of the structure past the spacecraft caused Ulysses to move smoothly and completely from one regime into the other. In this study we examine this crossing in detail. The crossing is marked by a region of enhanced pressure, typical of stream interaction regions, which extends {approximately}2{times}10{sup 7}km across. We find that the transition between the slow and fast regimes occurs on several temporal, and hence spatial, scales. On the shortest scale ({lt}8{times}10{sup 4}km) the stream interface is a tangential discontinuity where the proton and core electron densities and ion and electron pressures all drop while the magnetic pressure jumps to maintain a rough pressure balance. The alpha to proton ratio also jumps across the stream interface to reachmore » the comparatively constant polar hole value of {approximately}4.3{percent}. On larger scales (a few {times}10{sup 6}km) the proton and alpha temperatures rise to their high-speed wind values. Finally, on the largest scale ({approximately}10{sup 8}km) the solar wind speed ramps up from {approximately}400kms{sup {minus}1} to {approximately}750kms{sup {minus}1}, typical of polar hole flows. While it seems likely that the stream interface maps back to a sharp boundary near the Sun, the large region of increasing flow speed suggests that there is also an extended gradient in solar wind source speed close to the Sun. {copyright} 1998 American Geophysical Union« less

Ulysses observations at mid and high heliographic latitudes have revealed a solar wind devoid of the large variations in density, temperature, and speed that are commonly observed at low latitudes. One event, however, observed on May 1, 1996, while Ulysses was located at {approximately}3.7AU and 38.5{degree}, stands out in the plasma data set. The structure, which is unique in the Ulysses high-latitude data set, is seen as a drop in proton density of almost an order of magnitude and a comparable rise in proton temperature. The event lasts {approximately}3(1)/(2) hours giving the structure a size of {approximately}9.6{times}10{sup 6}km (0.06 AU) along the spacecraft trajectory. Minimum variance analysis of this interval indicates that the angle between the average magnetic field direction and the minimum variance direction is {approximately}92{degree}, suggesting that the {open_quotes}density hole{close_quotes} may be approximated by a series of planar slabs separated by several tangential discontinuities. We discuss several possible explanations for the origin of this structure, but ultimately the origin of the density hole remains unknown. {copyright} 1998 American Geophysical Union

We have investigated the relationship between the energetic (∼1 MeV) proton intensity (J) and the magnetic compression ratio (C) measured at the trailing edges of corotating interaction regions observed at Ulysses. In general, our results show that the proton intensity was well correlated with the compression ratio, provided that the seed intensity remained constant, consistent with predictions of the Fermi model. Specifically, our results indicate that particles were accelerated to above ∼1 MeV in energy at or near the trailing edges of the compression regions observed in the midlatitude southern heliosphere, irrespective of whether the bounding reverse shocks were present or not. On the basis of this, we conclude that shock acceleration is probably not the only mechanism by which particles are accelerated to above ∼1 MeV in energy at compression or interaction regions (CIRs). On the basis of magnetic field measurements obtained near the trailing edges of several midlatitude CIRs, we propose that particles could have been accelerated via the Fermi mechanism by being scattered back and forth across the trailing edges of the compression regions by large-amplitude Alfven waves. Our results also show that the proton intensity was well correlated with the compression ratio during low solar activity periods but was essentially independent of C during periods of high solar activity. We suggest that the correlation between J and C was not observed during solar active periods because of significant variations in the seed intensity that result from sporadic contributions from transient solar events. In contrast, the correlation was observable during quiescent periods probably because contributions from transients had decreased dramatically, which allowed the CIRs to accelerate particles out of a seed population whose intensity remained relatively unperturbed.

After passing through the northern polar regions of the heliosphere during the summer of 1995, the Ulysses spacecraft has been gradually returning towards lower equatorial latitudes, reaching 30°N in August 1996 at about which time low speed solar wind from the streamer belt was once again observed. This paper reports on the Ulysses magnetic field observations, beginning from this time, concentrating on encounters with the heliospheric current sheet. These encounters restarted at a latitude of 25.5°N, a higher latitude than might be expected at solar activity minimum. We show that this early reappearance was due to a northward deflection of the current sheet caused by a long-lived active region at the corresponding heliographic longitude in the photosphere.

We have correlated the ∼1 MeV proton intensity (J) measured at corotating reverse shocks detected by Ulysses in the southern hemisphere with two parameters that characterise the strength of the shock. Between 6°–29°S J is essentially independent of the shock strength, whereas between 29°–41°S J is well correlated with the same. The poor correlation from 6°S to 29°S is attributed to variations in the background intensity caused by changes in solar activity. Our results also show that J is independent of the shock normal angle at all latitudes. We compensate for the effects of a fluctuating background by assuming that reverse shocks associated with two adjacent compression regions observed during a ∼26 day period accelerate particles out of the same seed population. The relation between the ratio of the proton intensities and the ratios of the shock parameters for such reverse shock-pairs indicates that the shock acceleration efficiency increases with the shock strength but is independent of the normal angle.

Two invariants associated with the Parker model of the solar wind involve the radial, BR, and azimuthal, BT, components of the heliospheric magnetic field. These invariants have been investigated using Ulysses data obtained at high latitudes in both the north and south solar hemispheres. The magnetic flux invariant, r2BR, is essentially independent of latitude in both hemispheres. However, comparisons with in-ecliptic IMP-8 and WIND observations reveal a small decrease with time of ∼6%. Average values of the second invariant, rVRBT, which is related to the heliospheric electric field, differ systematically from the Parker theory, the difference being a function of latitude that cannot be accounted for simply by a changing solar rotation period. No asymmetry in the discrepancy is found between the two hemispheres. The difference vanishes at the solar equator as shown by a comparison with the in-ecliptic measurements. These results are consistent with the average spiral angle being more radial (underwound) at high latitude than is predicted by the Parker angle and an interval has been identified in which the observed angle is approximately zero on average. This behavior contrasts with the most probable value of the invariant or the spiral angle which does agree with theory. The difference between the average and the most probable value is caused by an asymmetry in the probability distribution. This apparent reduction in average BT may bear on the long-standing issue of a “flux deficit” in the distant heliospheric field.

Traveling from the ecliptic to the solar polar regions, Ulysses observed wave activity below the local electron cyclotron frequency, fce. In regions near the heliospheric current sheet (hereafter HCS regions), two wave modes are observed: (1) whistler mode electromagnetic waves near interplanetary shocks and during periods of rapidly increasing solar wind velocity, and (2) apparently electrostatic waves occurring during the periods when gradually decreasing solar wind velocity is observed. At high heliographic latitudes, in the region with relatively steady high speed solar wind streams, wave activity is consistently observed near and below fce with little time variability of the spectra. It is found that in the periods when intense waves of the second type are observed in the HCS regions, the electron heat flux decreases. This may imply that these low frequency waves limit the intensity of the heat flux through wave particle scattering.

Properties of the large amplitude Alfven waves which are a dominant feature of the high latitude solar wind have been studied during the pole-to-pole passage of Ulysses. In addition, an effort has begun to identify magnetosonic waves at high latitude in spite of their expected small amplitude and the presence of the large amplitude Alfven waves. The power in the latter is essentially the same in both solar hemispheres without evidence of any significant north-south asymmetry. The increased power as Ulysses approached the poles is not, in fact, dependent on latitude but is caused by a power law dependence on distance. The Alfvenicity of the fluctuations, as indicated by the covariance of the field and velocity, increases to high levels (0.8) at high latitudes. Principal axis analyses indicate that the field vector appears to wander randomly over a hemisphere whose radius is the nearly constant field magnitude. This behavior is consistent with a stochastic model introduced by Barnes as demonstrated by a statistical analysis of the field variations observed by Ulysses. The principal axis analysis also shows that the direction associated with the minimum eigenvalue is nearly radial. The strategy for identifying magnetosonic waves involves searching for them in the weak interaction regions accompanying microstreams. Simultaneous variations in the magnetic, kinetic, and total pressures are qualitatively consistent with the presence of magnetosonic waves.

The heliospheric magnetic field (HMF) is the extension of the coronal magnetic field carried out into the solar system by the solar wind. It is the means by which the Sun interacts with planetary magnetospheres and channels charged particles propagating through the heliosphere. As the HMF remains rooted at the solar photosphere as the Sun rotates, the large-scale HMF traces out an Archimedean spiral. This pattern is distorted by the interaction of fast and slow solar wind streams, as well as the interplanetary manifestations of transient solar eruptions called coronal mass ejections. On the smaller scale, the HMF exhibits an array of waves, discontinuities, and turbulence, which give hints to the solar wind formation process. This review aims to summarise observations and theory of the small- and large-scale structure of the HMF. Solar-cycle and cycle-to-cycle evolution of the HMF is discussed in terms of recent spacecraft observations and pre-spaceage proxies for the HMF in geomagnetic and galactic cosmic ray records.

This study of whistler wave emission observed by the Ulysses Unified Radio and Plasma Wave (URAP) experiment between 1 and 5 AU is a complement to previous studies of whistler waves observed by the Helios spacecraft between 0.3 and 1 AU. The Helios spacecraft continuously detected a background of whistlers close to the Sun, and this background was found to decrease in intensity with larger heliocentric distance. Ulysses plasma wave observations confirm this trend. Within a heliocentric distance of approximately 2 AU, whistler waves are routinely observed. Beyond about 3 AU, the waves are usually observed only downstream of interplanetary shocks. Moreover, whistler waves are routinely observed within about 2 AU at all heliographic latitudes of the Ulysses trajectory (−80° to +80°). The combined observations from the Helios and Ulysses spacecraft suggest that whistler emission is always present in the solar wind, although at larger heliocentric distances the wave amplitudes are often below the thresholds of the URAP instrument. Observations throughout the first 5 years of the Ulysses mission show a clear correlation of whistler emission intensity with magnetic field strength, or gyrofrequency, such that increases in wave intensities coincide with increases in gyrofrequency. This correlation is especially evident in observations of interplanetary shocks and high-speed streams. A possible cause of this correlation is increased whistler wave growth due to enhanced electron temperature anisotropies in regions of compressed magnetic field. A shift of the background whistler spectrum as a function of gyrofrequency could account for the observed decrease in whistler amplitudes with increasing heliocentric distance.

Ulysses observations of the interplanetary magnetic field reveal well-ordered rotations on the timescale of several hours. These have been previously identified as arc-polarized Alfven waves. Rotational discontinuities (RDs) are often an integral part of the wave. This study focuses on a statistical description of these rotations (ARCs) in the ecliptic plane. It is found that (1) most ARCs are limited to 180° or less in rotation ; (2) these ARCs account for between 5 and 10% of the total data set ; (3) there appears to be no preferred helicity ; (4) the minimum-variance direction typically makes a large oblique angle with the average magnetic field (), while the intermediate-variance direction is loosely aligned with ; (5) most of the events display a small but significant nonzero magnetic field component in the direction of minimum variance ; (6) the cross helicity of the ARCs tends to be higher than during non-ARC intervals ; (7) there are 2.4 times more discontinuities during ARC intervals than during non-ARC intervals ; (8) essentially all ARCs are propagating outward in the rest frame of the solar wind plasma ; and (9) there is no simple relationship between the rate of occurrence of the ARCs and heliocentric distance. Comparing these results with the predicted signatures of a number of models, it is found that arc-polarized Alfven waves with embedded RDs propagating along the minimum-variance direction best fit the majority of events.

A study is presented of 153 fast shock waves and their relation to other large-scale features in the solar wind: corotating interaction regions (CIRs), interplanetary counterparts of coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) and the magnetic sector structure, observed by Ulysses from October 1990 to the south solar pass in the summer of 1994.

The plasma flow in Jupiter's magnetosphere observed during the Ulysses flyby is compared with previous Pioneer, Voyager and ground-based observations. These data show that near-rigid corotation is enforced in the inner magnetosphere, but that the azimuthal flow plateaus at 150-300 km s -1 in the middle magnetosphere plasma sheet beyond ∼20 R J . Such flows extend through the prenoon plasma sheet to ∼45 R J in the compressed magnetosphere observed by the Voyagers and to ∼70 R J in the expanded system observed by Ulysses. Higher speeds of ∼500 km s -1 occur in the postmidnight plasma sheet at 75-125 R J in Voyager data, while preliminary Ulysses evidence is presented for anticorotation in the dusk plasma sheet beyond ∼50 R J . In the outer magnetosphere the dawn and dusk flank flows are antisunward at several hundred kilometres per second, while in the prenoon sector the flow appears to depend magnetospheric state, being corotational at 250-600 km s -1 when compressed and anticorotational (and radially in) at ∼250 km s -1 when expanded. These observations are compared with theories proposed by Hill and Vasyliunas, augmented to include the effects of solar wind coupling. This model accounts qualitatively for many features, but not for the anticorotation flows observed. We also compare the flows with the bending of the magnetic field out of meridian planes. Given the subcorotation-anticorotation nature of the observed flow, a pervasive lagging configuration is expected. This accords with in situ field data, except for the dusk outer magnetosphere observed by Ulysses, where a leading configuration was observed in the presence of subcorotating (downtail) flow. We conclude that field bending due to the tail-magnetopause current system dominates that due to ionospheric coupling on the dusk flank.

The fundamental aim of the Ulysses space mission is to extend our understanding of the heliosphere into three dimensions. By April 1994, the spacecraft had reached a heliographic latitude of 60°S. Hourly averages of the Ulysses heliospheric magnetic field observations have been analyzed to determine to what extent the underlying field direction within 60° of the heliographic equator can be described by the Parker spiral model. At all latitudes from near the ecliptic southward to 60°S, the most probable value of the azimuthal orientation of the field lines remained in approximate agreement with the Parker model. Once Ulysses passed southward of the maximum latitude of the heliospheric current sheet at about 30°S it became possible to study the distribution of the azimuth angle in purely inward polarity southern hemisphere fields without the confusion between the northern and southern hemisphere sectors. This distribution is revealed to be highly asymmetric with a greater probability of observing field lines with an azimuth angle less tightly wound than the most probable angle. Comparison with near-ecliptic data showed a similar asymmetry in inward polarity field sectors while in outward polarity sectors there was an asymmetry in the opposite sense. We suggest that the asymmetry in the >30°S azimuth angle distribution arises due to the presence of long-period radially outward propagating Alfven waves in the solar wind flows originating from the southern polar coronal hole. In addition, from studying the meridional (north-south) orientation of the field lines we find that at south heliographic latitudes within about 25° of the equator there is a tendency in the Ulysses data set for the field lines to be on average deflected equatorward of their expected direction, most likely due to flow deflections associated with the interaction of high- and low-speed solar wind streams.

Using Ulysses low energy telescope (LET) measurements of protons and alpha particles with energies of ∼1–5 MeV/n, we present first observations of transient energetic particle events in the high latitude heliosphere. Three transient particle events with gradual onsets and time durations of several days have been identified in the LET data at heliographic latitudes as high as ∼60°S, at radial distances from the Sun between 3.3–3.6 AU. No transient increases were observed polewards of 60°S. All three of the events were associated with passage of a coronal mass ejection (CME) over Ulysses, and two were associated with the newly identified type of forward/reverse shock pairs in the solar wind caused by over-expanding CMEs. The largest of the three transient events has also been observed at Earth's orbit, i.e. in the ecliptic. The observations show that energetic particles can be convected into the high latitude heliosphere through CMEs.

The rapid crossing of the solar equatorial region by Ulysses as it returned from the south pole resulted in 7 crossings of the heliospheric current sheet between 10°S and 20°N and 10 distinct solar wind interaction regions between 18°S and 22°N. Both the extent of the current sheet and the latitude interval containing the interaction regions are a factor of ≈ 2 less than were observed by Ulysses when it left the equatorial region in 1993. A map of the current sheet in heliographic latitude and Carrington longitude reveals two folds corresponding to 4 magnetic sectors. The coronal holes associated with the sectors, the interaction regions and high-speed streams have been identified. Two sectors were associated with a pair of asymmetrically-placed polar coronal holes whereas the other two sectors coincided with a pair of near-equatorial coronal holes on opposite sides of the equator.

Data obtained during Ulysses' rapid northbound traverse across the heliographic equator provide evidence for predicted, opposed north-south tilts of corotating interaction regions formed from streams originating in the northern and southern solar hemispheres respectively. In both hemispheres, reverse waves that were propagating poleward were observed poleward of the latitudes where the fast-slow wind interaction occurred. Forward waves, on the other hand, were observed only within the low-latitude band of wind variability, consistent with the prediction of systematic, opposed tilts. However, the evidence for opposed north-south tilts within the low-latitude band of variability was less conclusive.

We report the first observations of Langmuir waves excited within magnetic holes, which are characterized by a depression of magnetic field strength. This phenomenon is very common in the solar wind. In addition to Langmuir waves, waves at a few kHz, which are typical of Doppler-shifted ion acoustic frequencies in the solar wind, and low frequency electromagnetic waves (below the electron cyclotron frequency) are sometimes observed simultaneously within the holes. In the holes with directional discontinuities at the boundary, the above plasma waves may occur at the edges of the holes. Possible physical mechanisms of the wave excitation are discussed.

The Ulysses magnetic field experiment has measured the heliospheric magnetic field in solar wind flows from the Sun's Southern polar coronal hole over a wide range of heliolatitudes and distances. We present an analysis of more than one year of data, covering a latitude range of 40° to 80°S and a distance range of 4.0 to 1.7 AU. We extend an earlier analysis of Ulysses magnetic field data and, by calculating structure functions, demonstrate that the spectrum of fluctuations in the magnetic field changed along the orbit of Ulysses within polar flows and that this change is a result of the variation in Ulysses' distance from the Sun, rather than its latitude. We interpret this change as being due to the development of turbulence in the polar solar wind.

We present here a preliminary analysis of observations of energetic ions during the first polar pass of the Ulysses spacecraft, concentrating mainly on the region where the spacecraft was continually immersed in high speed flow from the polar coronal hole. During the ascent to high latitudes, a single recurrent peak was observed once per solar rotation. From 70°S during ascent to 43°S during descent no major peaks were observed. Thereafter, two peaks per solar rotation were observed.

A solar wind disturbance produced by a fast coronal mass ejection, CME, that departed from the Sun on Feburary 20, 1994 was observed in the ecliptic plane at 1 AU by IMP 8 and at high heliographic latitudes at 3.53 AU by Ulysses. In the ecliptic the disturbance included a strong forward shock but no reverse shock, while at high latitudes the disturbance was bounded by a relatively weak forward-reverse shock pair. It is clear that the disturbance in the ecliptic plane was driven primarily by the relative speed between the CME and a slower ambient solar wind ahead, whereas at higher latitudes the disturbance was driven by expansion of the CME. The combined IMP 8 and Ulysses observations thus provide a graphic illustration of how a single fast CME can produce very different types of solar wind disturbances at low and high heliographic latitudes. Simple numerical simulations help explain observed differences at the two spacecraft.

Magnetic field measurements from the Ulysses space mission overthe south polar regions of the sun showed that the structure and properties of the three-dimensional heliosphere were determined by the fast solar wind flow and magnetic fields from the large coronal holes in the polar regions of the sun. This conclusion applies at the current, minimum phase of the 11-year solar activity cycle. Unexpectedly, the radial component of the magnetic field was independent of latitude. The high-latitude magnetic field deviated significantly from the expected Parker geometry, probably because of large amplitude transverse fluctuations. Low-frequency fluctuations had a high level of variance. The rate of occurrence of discontinuities also increased significantly at high latitudes.

Plasma and magnetic field signatures from 29 November 1990 indicate that the Ulysses spacecraft passed through a series of interplanetary structures that were most likely formed by magnetic reconnection on open field lines ahead of a coronal mass ejection (CME). This reconnection changed the magnetic topology of the upstream region by converting normal open interplanetary magnetic field into a pair of regions: one magnetically disconnected from the Sun and the other, a tongue, connected back to the Sun at both ends. This process provides a new method for producing both heat flux dropouts and counterstreaming suprathermal electron signatures in interplanetary space. In this paper we expand upon the 29 November case study and argue that reconnection ahead of CMEs should be less common at high heliolatitudes.