The principle of electrostatic stationarity and electrical fields of the sun and planets.

A general method is developed on the basis of the principle of electrostatic stationarity for determining the electrostatic fields of the solar corona and of planets with ionospheres. In the method, an electric field is determined from the equality of dissipation fluxes of positive and negative fluxes. The effect of the electric field and of ion deceleration in the plasma is taken into account in the equations of ion motion in the solar corona and planetary ionospheres. It is concluded that the principle of electrostatic stationarity can be used successfully to assess the electric field strengths and charge states of stars or planets.