Comparison of time delay and Faraday rotation measurements from the Helios spacecraft
Abstract
Simultaneous time delay and Faraday rotation measurements made on the carrier signal of the Helios-2 spacecraft (f 2.3 GHz) are analyzed and compared for a typical 3-hour tracking pass during solar occultation on May 8, 1976. Both data sets are characterized by long-period (about 1 hour) fluctuations superimposed over a quiescent contribution from the solar corona. That the time delay fluctuations seem to be anticorrelated with the fluctuations in Faraday rotation is substantiated by correlation analyses of both data sets. This apparent connection between fluctuations in the magnetic field and electron density suggests the presence of plasma waves in the corona, and a simplified model is developed to investigate this possibility.
- Publication:
-
Kleinheubacher Berichte
- Pub Date:
- 1978
- Bibcode:
- 1978KlBer..21..305E
- Keywords:
-
- Carrier Waves;
- Faraday Effect;
- Helios Satellites;
- Time Lag;
- Electron Density (Concentration);
- Magnetic Fields;
- Plasma Waves;
- Solar Corona;
- Solar Eclipses;
- Wave Propagation;
- Space Communications, Spacecraft Communications, Command and Tracking