Simulations and Observations of the Structured Variability in the Slow Solar Wind
Abstract
In addition to the long-term heliospheric evolution on timescales of months to years, the slow solar wind exhibits significant variability on much shorter timescales—from minutes to days. This short-term variability in the magnetic field, bulk plasma, and composition properties of the slow solar wind likely results from magnetic reconnection processes in the extended solar corona. Here, we continue our analysis of the Higginson et al. (2017, ApJ 840, L10) numerical MHD simulation to investigate the following sources of structured slow solar wind variability. First, we examine the formation and evolution of 3D “streamer blob” magnetic flux ropes from the cusp of the helmet streamer belt by reconnection in the heliospheric current sheet (HCS). Second, we examine the large-scale torsional Alfven wave that propagates to high latitudes along the Separatrix-Web (S-Web) arc. We argue that the in-situ Alfven wave signatures in our simulation should be representative of the field and plasma signatures associated with interchange reconnection process in the corona. Therefore, we predict that streamer blob magnetic island flux ropes should be found primarily near the HCS but the torsional Alfven wave signatures should be present in both the streamer belt/HCS slow wind and in the slow wind in the S-Web arcs of pseudostreamers. We present preliminary results of our analysis of the field, plasma, and composition variability in select intervals of slow solar wind in Carrington Rotation 2002 and show these are in excellent agreement with the numerical simulation predictions.
- Publication:
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AAS/Solar Physics Division Abstracts #48
- Pub Date:
- August 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017SPD....4840401L