B. E. Goldstein

Ulysses solar wind plasma observations from pole to pole

We present Ulysses solar wind plasma data from the peak southerly latitude of −80.2° on 12 September 1994 through the corresponding northerly latitude on 31 July 1995. Ulysses encountered fast wind throughout this time except for a 43° band centered on the solar equator. Median mass flux was nearly constant with latitude, while speed and density had positive and negative poleward gradients, respectively. Solar wind momentum flux was highest at high latitudes, suggesting a latitudinal asymmetry in the heliopause cross section. Solar wind energy flux density was also highest at high latitudes.

Ulysses field and plasma observations of magnetic holes in the solar wind and their relation to mirror‐mode structures

The term “magnetic hole” has been used to denote isolated intervals when the magnitude of the interplanetary magnetic field drops to a few tenths, or less, of its ambient value for a time that corresponds to a linear dimension of tens to a few hundreds of proton gyro-radii. Data obtained by the Ulysses magnetometer and solar wind analyzer have been combined to study the properties of such magnetic holes in the solar wind between 1 AU and 5.4 AU and to 23° south latitude. In order to avoid confusion with decreases in field strength at interplanetary discontinuities, the study has focused on linear holes across which the field direction changed by less than 5°. The holes occurred preferentially, but not without exception, in the interaction regions on the leading edges of high-speed solar wind streams. Although the plasma surrounding the holes was generally stable against the mirror instability, there are indications that the holes may have been remnants of mirror-mode structures created upstream of the points of observation. Those indications include the following: (1) For the few holes for which proton or alpha-particle pressure could be measured inside the hole, the ion thermal pressure was always greater than in the plasma adjacent to the holes. (2) The plasma surrounding many of the holes was marginally stable for the mirror mode, while the plasma environment of all the holes was significantly closer to mirror instability than was the average solar wind. (3) The plasma containing trains of closely spaced holes was closer to mirror instability than was the plasma containing isolated holes. (4) The near-hole plasma had much higher ion β (ratio of thermal to magnetic pressure) than did the average solar wind. (5) Near the holes, T⊥/T∥ tended to be either >1 or larger than in the average wind. (6) The proton and alpha-particle distribution functions measured inside the holes occasionally exhibited the flattened phase-space-density contours in ν⊥-ν∥ space found in some numerical simulations of the mirror instability.

Ulysses' return to the slow solar wind

After ten long years of wandering the uncharted seas, Ulysses returned to his home port of Ithaca. Similarly, after its unprecedented five year odyssey through the previously uncharted regions over the poles of the Sun, the Ulysses spacecraft has returned to the slow, variable solar wind which dominates observations near the ecliptic plane. Solar wind plasma and magnetic field observations from Ulysses are used to examine this return from the fast polar solar wind through the region of solar wind variability and into a region of slow solar wind from the low latitude streamer belt. As it journeyed equatorward, Ulysses encountered a large corotating interaction region and associated rarefaction region on each solar rotation. Due to these repeated interactions, Ulysses also observed numerous shocks, all of which have tilts that are consistent with those expected for shocks generated by corotating interaction regions. Eventually, Ulysses emerged into a region of unusually steady slow solar wind, indicating that the tilt of the streamer belt with respect to the solar heliographic equator was smaller than the width of the band of slow solar wind from the streamer belt.

Ulysses Solar Wind Plasma Observations at High Southerly Latitudes

Solar wind plasma observations made by the Ulysses spacecraft through –80.2� solar latitude and continuing equatorward to –40.1� are summarized. Recurrent high-speed streams and corotating interaction regions dominated at middle latitudes. The speed of the solar wind was typically 700 to 800 kilometers per second poleward of –35�. Corotating reverse shocks persisted farther south than did forward shocks because of the tilt of the heliomagnetic streamer belt. Sporadic coronal mass ejections were seen as far south as –60.5�. Proton temperature was higher and the electron strahl was broader at higher latitudes. The high-latitude wind contained compressional, pressure-balanced, and Alfv�nic structures.

Ulysses observations of a recurrent high speed solar wind stream and the heliomagnetic streamer belt

Near-ecliptic solar wind observations by Ulysses on its way to the polar regions of the Sun, compared with those from IMP 8 at 1 AU, showed that high-speed streams decay and broaden with heliocentric distance from IMP 8 to Ulysses, as expected. In July 1992 while travelling south at ∼13°S and 5.3 AU, Ulysses encountered a recurrent high-speed stream, that may also have been observed at IMP 8. The stream has been observed a total of 14 times, once in each solar rotation through June 1993 at ∼34°S. The source of the high-speed stream is an equatorward extension of the south polar coronal hole. From July 1992 through June 1993, averages of solar wind peak speed increased while density decreased with heliographic latitude. Both the stream and a low-speed, high-density flow, presumably associated with the heliomagnetic (coronal) streamer belt encircling the heliomagnetic equator, crossed Ulysses with the solar rotation period until April 1993 when the spacecraft was at ∼29°S heliographic latitude. After this time, as the spacecraft climbed to higher latitudes, the central portion of the streamer belt with lowest speed and highest density disappeared. Therefore, at its maximum inclination, the belt was tilted at ∼29° to the heliographic equator at this point in the solar cycle.

Latitudinal variation of solar wind corotating stream interaction regions: Ulysses

Ulysses‧ initial transit to high heliographic latitudes at a heliocentric distance of ∼5 AU has revealed systematic effects in the latitudinal evolution of corotating interaction regions (CIRs). At a latitude corresponding roughly to, but slightly less than, the inferred tilt of the coronal streamer belt and embedded heliospheric current sheet, the strong forward shocks commonly associated with CIRs at lower latitudes disappeared almost entirely; however, the reverse shocks associated with these CIRs persisted to latitudes ∼ 10° above the streamer belt. Systematic meridional flow deflections observed in association with the forward and reverse waves bounding the CIRs demonstrate that the above effect is the result of the fact that the forward waves propagate to lower latitudes and the reverse waves to higher latitudes with increasing heliocentric distance. These observational results are in excellent agreement with the predictions of a three-dimensional model of corotating solar wind flows that originate in a tilted dipole geometry back at the Sun.

Disappearance of the heliospheric sector structure at Ulysses

In May, 1993, the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) ceased to be seen by the Ulysses spacecraft at a heliocentric latitude of ∼30° S and distance of 4.7 AU. The disappearance of the HCS coincided with the solar wind speed remaining >560 km/s and with the disappearance of one of four interaction regions previously seen on each solar rotation. The heliographic latitude of the disappearance of the HCS at Ulysses was 11° equatorward of the latitude of the magnetic neutral sheet computed at the source surface at 2.5 solar radii, and it occurred a half year earlier than predicted on the basis of the persistence of the time profile of the neutral sheet tilt from one solar cycle to the next.

Ulysses at 50° south: constant immersion in the high-speed solar wind

We present speed observations from the Ulysses solar wind plasma experiment through 50° south latitude. The pronounced speed modulation arising from solar rotation and the tilt of the heliomagnetic current sheet has nearly disappeared. Ulysses is now observing wind speeds in the 700 to 800 km s−1 range, with a magnetic polarity indicating an origin in the large south polar coronal hole. The strong compressions, rarefactions, and shock waves previously seen have weakened or disappeared. Occasional coronal mass ejections characterized by low plasma density caused by radial expansion have been observed. The coronal configuration was simple and stable in 1993, indicating that the observed solar wind changes were caused by increasing spacecraft latitude. Trends in prevailing speed with increasing latitude support previous findings. A decrease in peak speed southward of 40° latitude may indicate that the fastest solar wind comes from the equatorial extensions of the polar coronal holes.

The relationship between interplanetary discontinuities and Alfven waves: Ulysses observations

The rate of occurrence of interplanetary discontinuities (ROID) is examined using Ulysses magnetic field and plasma data from 1 to 5 AU radial distance from the Sun and at high heliographic latitudes. We find two regions where the ROID is high: in stream-stream interaction regions and in Alfven wave trains. This latter feature is particularly obvious at high latitudes when Ulysses enters a high speed stream associated with a polar coronal hole. These streams are characterized by the presence of continuous, large-amplitude (ΔB→/|B|∼1−2)Alfven waves and an extraordinarily high ROID value (∼150 discontinuities/day). In a number of intervals examined, it is found that (rotational) discontinuities are an integral part of the Alfven waves. The nonlinear Alfven waves are spherically polarized, i.e., the tip of the perturbation vector resides on the surface of a sphere (a consequence of constant |B|). The slowly rotating part of the wave rotates ∼270° in phase. There is a slight arc in the B1-B2 hodogram, suggesting an almost linear polarization. The phase rotation associated with the discontinuity is ∼90°, lies in the same plane as the slowly rotating part of the Alfven wave, and therefore completes the 360° phase rotation. The best description of the overall Alfven wave plus discontinuity is a spherical, arc-polarized, phase-steepened wave.

Properties of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in the solar wind as observed by Ulysses at high heliographic latitudes

The Ulysses mission provides an opportunity to study the evolution of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence in pure high-speed solar wind streams. The absence at high heliocentric latitudes of the strong shears in solar wind velocity generally present near the heliocentric current sheet allows investigation of how fluctuations in the magnetic field and plasma relax and evolve in the radially expanding solar wind. We report results of an analysis of the radial and latitudinal variation of the turbulence properties of the fluctuations, especially various plasma-field correlations, in high latitude regions. The results constrain current theories of the evolution of MHD turbulence in the solar wind. Compared to similar observations at 0.3 AU by Helios, we find spectra that are similar in having a large frequency band with an f¹ power spectrum in the outward traveling component of the waves, followed at higher frequencies by a steeper spectrum. Ulysses observations establish that at high latitudes the turbulence is less evolved (i.e., has a smaller inertial range) than it is in the ecliptic at the same heliocentric distance, apparently due to the absence of strong velocity shear. Once Ulysses is in the polar coronal hole, properties of the turbulence appear to be determined by the heliocentric distance of the spacecraft rather than by its helio-latitude.