Nonradial and nonpolytropic astrophysical outflows VII. Fitting ULYSSES solar wind data during minimum

Exact axisymmetric analytical solutions of the governing MHD equations for magnetized and rotating outflows are applied to the solar wind during solar minimum as observed by ULYSSES. Using the spacecraft data, the latitudinal dependences of physical quantities such as the density, velocity, magnetic field and temperature are analytically described. The self-similar solutions are then compared to the global structure of the wind from one solar radius to 5 AU and beyond, including consistently the rotation of the outflow. The model makes it possible to describe the initial flaring of the magnetic dipolar structure, reproducing in a satisfactory way the observed profiles of the velocity, density and temperature with heliocentric distance. Finally, this model is in agreement with the conjecture that the solar wind should not be collimated at large distances, even close to its rotational axis. © ESO 2005.