J.-L. Steinberg

Solar wind thermal electrons in the ecliptic plane between 1 and 4 AU - Preliminary results from the Ulysses radio receiver

The radio receiver of the Unified Radio and Plasma (URAP) experiment aboard the Ulysses spacecraft records spectra of the quasi-thermal plasma noise. The interpretation of these spectra allows the determination of the total electron density Ne and of the cold (core) electron temperature Tc in the solar wind. A single power law does not fit the variations of Ne which result from the contribution from different solar wind structures. The distribution of the values of Tc suggests that, on the average, the solar wind is nearly isothermal.

Interplanetary fast shock diagnosis with the radio receiver on Ulysses

ABSTRACT The Radio receiver on Ulysses records the quasi-thermal noise which allows a determination of the density and temperature of the cold (core) electrons of the solar wind. Seven interplanetary fast forward or reverse shocks are identified from the density and temperature profiles, together with the magnetic field profile from the Magnetometer experiment. Upstream of the three strongest shocks, bursts of non-thermal waves are observed at the electron plasma frequency f peu. The more perpendicular the shock, the longer is the time interval during which these upstream bursts are observed. For one of the strongest shocks we also observe two kinds of upstream electromagnetic radiation: radiation at 2 f peu , and radiation at the downstream electron plasma frequency, which propagates into the less dense upstream regions.

Comet P/Giacobini-Zinner electron and H2O(+) column densities from ICE and ground-based observations

An H2O(+) spatial mission profile, extracted from an optical CCD spectrogram obtained during the ICE/Giacobini-Zinner encounter, is compared to the electron-density profile that was deduced from in situ measurements by the radio experiment aboard ICE. The electron column density along a line of sight has two components, one from the spherically symmetric coma, and the second from a thin plasma sheet, whenever it is along the line of sight. The deduced electron column-density profile agrees well with the observed H2O(+) emission profile. It is concluded that the electrons and the H2O(+) ions are distributed similarly 9600 km tailward from the cometary nucleus, that the ratio of number densities of H2O(+) ions to electrons is about 1/4 at this point, and that the width of the plasma sheet is about 16,000 km.

3-D Coronal and Heliospheric Structure from Radio Observations

We review radio observations of the heliospheric 3-D structure from the mid-corona to the Earth orbit, made from the Earth and from space, using thermal emission, tracers in the form of radio bursts or interplanetary scintillation of radio sources.

Interplanetary type III radio bursts observed simultaneously by ICE

We analyze two solar type III radio bursts that were observed simultaneously by the ICE and Ulysses spacecraft. Both bursts originated behind the solar limb as viewed from either spacecraft. At the time of these events, ICE was in the ecliptic plane at ∼1 AU and Ulysses was ∼ 35° south of the ecliptic plane at ∼4 AU. For one event on 931117, the ratios of the peak flux densities measured at each spacecraft, at each observing frequency, were consistent with the most probable source locations relative to ICE and Ulysses. The second event on 931004 was a complex burst consisting of two distinct components at high frequencies. At low frequencies, the intensity of the first component decreased rapidly at each spacecraft. The second component, however, dominated the low frequency emission observed at Ulysses but not at ICE. These differences in the observed radiation must be related to the different viewing geometries of the two spacecraft. The measured onset times as a function of observing frequency were consistent with a constant exciter speed through the interplanetary medium and suggest that there are significant propagation delays, especially for the radiation propagating within the ecliptic plane.

Interplanetary Type III Radio Bursts Observed Simultaneously by Ulysses and ICE

We analyze two solar type III radio bursts that were observed simultaneously by the ICE and Ulysses spacecraft. Both bursts originated behind the solar limb as viewed from either spacecraft. At the time of these events, ICE was in the ecliptic plane at ~1 AU and Ulysses was ~ 35° south of the ecliptic plane at ~4 AU. For one event on 931117, the ratios of the peak flux densities measured at each spacecraft, at each observing frequency, were consistent with the most probable source locations relative to ICE and Ulysses. The second event on 931004 was a complex burst consisting of two distinct components at high frequencies. At low frequencies, the intensity of the first component decreased rapidly at each spacecraft. The second component, however, dominated the low frequency emission observed at Ulysses but not at ICE. These differences in the observed radiation must be related to the different viewing geometries of the two spacecraft. The measured onset times as a function of observing frequency were consistent with a constant exciter speed through the interplanetary medium and suggest that there are significant propagation delays, especially for the radiation propagating within the ecliptic plane.