Energetic particles in the comet Halley environment

An overview is presented of electrons, protons and heavier ions (E > 20 keV) recorded by the energetic particle detector EPONA in the Comet Halley environment, 12–15 March, 1986. Pick-up ions were detected at distances of up to at least 7.5 × 10⁶ km from the nucleus. Estimates of the energies that typical cometary ions may be expected to acquire from the solar wind pertaining at Encounter show that the pick-up process is insufficient to account for the energies of the particles detected. An additional mechanism must thus be postulated to account for the observed particle signatures. Preliminary correlations with magnetic and plasma wave data from other instruments suggest that the presence of MHD turbulence at several million kilometers upstream of the bowshock may have contributed to the acceleration of the first pick-up ions observed. The bowshock boundary (inbound) does not appear to have constituted a location where particle acceleration to high energies took place. Downstream of the shock boundary, hardening of the energy spectrum and the development of less anisotropic particle streaming was observed to occur when the spacecraft was in a turbulent environment 1 × 10⁶ km from the nucleus. The waxing influence of mass loading as a mechanism for reducing energetic particle fluxes as well as the depletion of energetic ions due to their escape along open field lines and to charge exchange collision with neutrals in a progressively more stagnant solar wind, may be inferred in a regime (seen on the magnetometer data to be largely non-turbulent) traversed by the spacecraft from 5 × 10⁵ km from the nucleus to within the magnetic pile-up region. A major burst of ions and electrons (not yet established to be of cometary origin) occurred when the spacecraft was close to the Contact Surface. A population of high energy electrons (from 180 keV to at least 300 keV) was detected for about one hour before Closest Approach and for several hours thereafter. Also an energetic beam of electrons was identified exiting from a location at about 1 × 10⁶ km from the nucleus (outbound). Finally, differences between inbound and outbound particle signatures are described.     

December 2006 solar extreme events and their influence on the near-Earth space environment: “Universitetskiy-Tatiana” satellite observations

The Russian microsatellite “Universitetskiy-Tatiana” was launched on Jan. 20, 2005 and was both a scientific and educational mission. Its two main aims were declared as: (1) monitoring of the energetic particles dynamics in the near-Earth space environment after solar events and during quiet times, (2) educational activities based on experimental data obtained from the spacecraft. In this paper observations acquired during Dec. 5–16, 2006, known as “Solar Extreme Events 2006”, were analyzed. The “Universitetskiy-Tatiana” microsatellite orbit permits one to measure both solar energetic particle dynamics, variations of the boundary of solar particle penetration, as well as relativistic and sub-relativistic electrons of the Earth’s outer radiation belt during and after magnetic storms. Both relativistic electrons of the Earth’s outer radiation and solar energetic particles are an important source of radiation damage in near-Earth space. Therefore, the presented experimental results demonstrate the successful application of a small educational spacecraft both for scientific and educational programs.     

X-ray, γ-emission and energetic particles in near-Earth space as measured by CORONAS-F satellite: From maximum to minimum of the last solar cycle

The Russian solar observatory CORONAS-F was launched into a circular orbit on July 31, 2001 and operated until December 12, 2005. Two main aims of this experiment were: (1) simultaneous study of solar hard X-ray and γ-ray emission and charged solar energetic particles, (2) detailed investigation of how solar energetic particles influence the near-Earth space environment. The CORONAS-F satellite orbit allows one to measure both solar energetic particle dynamics and variations of the solar particle boundary penetration as well as relativistic electrons of the Earth’s outer radiation belt during and after magnetic storms. We have found that significant enhancements of relativistic electron flux in the outer radiation belt were observed not only during strong magnetic storms near solar maximum but also after weak storms caused by high speed solar wind streams. Relativistic electrons of the Earth’s outer radiation belt cause volumetric ionization in the microcircuits of spacecraft causing them to malfunction, and solar energetic particles form an important source of radiation damage in near-Earth space. Therefore, the present results and future research in relativistic electron flux dynamics are very important.     

The plasma regime at comet Giacobini-Zinner

This review of the plasma regime sampled by the encounter of the International Cometary Explorer spacecraft (ICE) with the comet Giacobini-Zinner, discusses the shock, or bow wave, ion pickup, ionization mechanisms, and the cometary plasma tail.

The observations are consistent with the existence of a weak shock, which may be pulsating, but do not exclude the suggestion by Wallis and Dryer that the shock, though present around the sub-solar point, is in process of decaying to a wave on the flanks.

Pickup of cometary ions provokes, by means of several mechanisms, ion cyclotron, mirror, beam and electrostatic instabilities which cause strong turbulence in the inner coma, as indicated in the power spectra of the magnetic field in the coma and the surrounding volume. Heavy mass loading and consequent slowing down of the solar wind is observed. Acceleration of ions by a stochastic mechanism is indicated.

Ionization of cometary neutrals occurs principally by photoionization and charge exchange. Alfvens critical velocity mechanism, likely operates only in the inner coma not visited by ICE. A steep increase of nearly two orders of magnitude in electron density occurs in the tail, where electron velocity distributions show evidence of entry of electrons from the solar wind. The turbulence there is damped by the high ion density and low temperature.

In general, the vicinity of the comet is filled with plasma phenomena and a rich variety of corresponding atomic and molecular processes can be studied there. Comparison between the ICE, Giotto, and Vega observations forms a most valuable future study.     

Relationship of solar flare accelerated particles to solar energetic particles (SEPs) observed in the interplanetary medium

Observations of hard X-ray (HXR)/γ-ray continuum and γ-ray lines produced by energetic electrons and ions, respectively, colliding with the solar atmosphere, have shown that large solar flares can accelerate ions up to many GeV and electrons up to hundreds of MeV. Solar energetic particles (SEPs) are observed by spacecraft near 1 AU and by ground-based instrumentation to extend up to similar energies as in large SEP events, but it appears that a different acceleration process, one associated with fast coronal mass ejections is responsible. Much weaker SEP events are observed that are generally rich in electrons, ³He, and heavy elements. The energetic particles in these events appear to be similar to those accelerated in flares. The Ramaty high energy solar spectroscopic imager (RHESSI) mission provides high-resolution spectroscopy and imaging of flare HXRs and γ-rays. Such observations can provide information on the location, energy spectra, and composition of the flare accelerated energetic particles at the Sun. Here, preliminary comparisons of the RHESSI observations with observations of both energetic electron and ion near 1 AU are reviewed, and the implications for the particle acceleration and escape processes are discussed.     

Comment on estimating the solar proton environment that may affect Mars missions.

Estimates of the energetic proton environment for a Mars mission are generally extrapolated from the solar proton observations at 1 AU. We find that solar particle events may be divided into two general classes. Events dominated by a near-sun injection of particles onto interplanetary magnetic field lines leading to the spacecraft position represent the "classical" solar particle event associated with solar activity. This class of event will scale in radial distance by the classical power law extrapolation. The extended-interplanetary-shock source generates a maximum flux as the shock passes the detection location. This class of event typically generates maximum fluence, but in this case, the flux and fluence will not scale in the classical manner with radial distance.     

Solar wind interaction with comet Halley

In March 6 and 9, 1986 the spacecrafts ‘Vega-1’ and ‘Vega-2’ have flown through the coma of comet Halley and have carried measurements of plasma, energetic particles, magnetic field and plasma waves along its trajectory. A short review of these measurements and its comparison with theoretical models of solar wind interaction with comets are given.

The spacecrafts ‘Vega-1’ and ‘Vega-2’ have studied the solar wind loading by cometary ions, the structure of cometary bow shock and the processes in the inner coma of comet Halley. Exactly in this sequence we discuss the results of measurements and compare them with the theory.     

Solar origin of near-relativistic impulsiveelectron events

There is increasing evidence suggesting that coronal acceleration supplies at least part of the particles observed during solar energetic particle events, yet coronal processes tend to be mostly disregarded in these studies. This is often due to the fact that the coronal restructuring in the early development of the associated flare and/or coronal mass ejection event is extremely fast (on the order of a few minutes) and can encompass most of the solar disk, thus requiring a full disk solar imager with very high time-cadence, and wide spectral coverage. An important subset of the energetic particle events are the near-relativistic impulsive electron events detected near Earth: their onsets can be traced back to a release time in the low corona with accuracies on the order of a couple of minutes. We investigate a series of impulsive electron events from 1998 to 2001 using energetic electron data measured in situ by the Electron, Proton, and Alpha Monitor (EPAM) experiment on the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft, and radio coronal observations from the Nanqay Radioheliograph, the Decametric Array from Nanqay and the WAVES experiment on the WIND spacecraft. EPAM measures electrons in the energy range from 40 to 300 keV over a wide range of look directions and with better than 1 minute time resolution, while the Nançay radioheliograph provides images of the solar corona at 5 different frequencies with time cadence of 8 images per second and per frequency. This study focuses on the events which correspond to a delay, between the inferred injection times of the electrons at the Sun, and the electromagnetic emissions from flares, of at least 5 minutes. Radio signatures are found near the estimated time of the electron release for each of the events. The timing and spectral characteristics of the radio emissions, when compared with the properties of the particles seen at EPAM, strongly support an acceleration process in the corona but at highly variable heights from one event to the other.     

On the evolution of dust in the solar vicinity.

The analysis of interplanetary dust shows that the majority of particles in out-of-ecliptic regions comes from comets and also that near solar dust, in the ecliptic regions, results most probably largely from comets. The intense radiation flux in the solar vicinity is expected to cause strong modifications in the material composition and surface structure of interplanetary dust particles and hence the analysis of near solar dust provides interesting insights into the evolution of meteoritic, especially cometary materials. Because of the lack of in-situ measurements our present knowledge concerning these processes derives from remote sensing, i.e. observations of the solar F-corona. In particular these are observations of albedo, polarization and colour temperature given in terms of average particle properties. For example the analysis of near infra-red F-corona data points to the existence of a strong component of irregularly structured silicate particles, most probably of cometary origin. The data may indicate a subsequent sublimation of different particles or different constituents of the particles. Here we compare particle properties derived from F-corona observations with model calculations of single particle properties and discuss perspectives of future analysis of cometary dust in the interplanetary cloud.     

Cosmic-ray diffusion in the inner heliosphere

For about the last 40 years, we have been trying to understand the propagation of cosmic rays and other energetic charged particles through the interplanetary medium. Identification of the basic processes affecting the propagation, namely diffusion, convection by the solar wind, adiabatic deceleration, and gradient and curvature drifts, was attained early on, but reaching detailed physical understanding, particularly of the roles of diffusion and gradient and curvature drifts, continues as an active topic of research to this day. Particularly unclear is the nature of the cross-field propagation. Many observations seem to require more efficient cross-field propagation than theoretical propagation models can easily produce. At the same time, there are other observations that seem to show strong guidance of the particles by the interplanetary magnetic field. With current measurements from spacecraft near Earth and from the Ulysses spacecraft, which samples nearly the complete range of heliographic latitudes in the inner heliosphere, critical tests of the ways in which cosmic rays and other energetic charged particles propagate through the interplanetary medium are possible. I briefly review the status of observations that are relevant to the characterization of diffusive propagation in the inner heliosphere and will present evidence for a possibly previously overlooked contribution from transport along magnetic flux tubes that deviate dramatically from the average interplanetary spiral configuration.     

Viewing radiation signatures of solar energetic particles in interplanetary space

A current serious limitation on the studies of solar energetic particle (SEP) events is that their properties in the inner heliosphere are studied only through in situ spacecraft observations. Our understanding of spatial distributions and temporal variations of SEP events has come through statistical studies of many such events over several solar cycles. In contrast, flare SEPs in the solar corona can be imaged through their radiative and collisional interactions with solar fields and particles. We suggest that the heliospheric SEPs may also interact with heliospheric particles and fields to produce signatures which can be remotely observed and imaged. A challenge with any such candidate signature is to separate it from that of flare SEPs. The optimum case for imaging high-energy (E > 100 MeV) heliospheric protons may be the emission of π⁰-decay γ-rays following proton collisions with solar wind (SW) ions. In the case of E > 1 MeV electrons, gyrosynchrotron radio emission may be the most readily detectible remote signal. In both cases we may already have observed one or two such events. Another radiative signature from nonthermal particles may be resonant transition radiation, which has likely already been observed from solar flare electrons. We discuss energetic neutrons as another possible remote signature, but we rule out γ-ray line and 0.511 MeV positron annihilation emission as observable signatures of heliospheric energetic ions. We are already acquiring global signatures of large inner-heliospheric SW density features and of heliosheath interactions between the SW and interstellar neutral ions. By finding an appropriate observable signature of remote heliospheric SEPs, we could supplement the in situ observations with global maps of energetic SEP events to provide a comprehensive view of SEP events.     

First-order Fermi shock acceleration in solar flares

First order Fermi shock acceleration of electrons, protons and alpha particles is compared to observations of energetic particle events. For each event, a unique shock compression ratio produces spectra in good agreement with observation. The simple model predicts that the acceleration time to a given energy will be approximately equal for electrons and protons and, for reasonable solar parameters, can be less than 1 second to ～ 100 MeV.     

Escaping near-relativistic electron beams from the solar corona

Processes in the solar corona are prodigious accelerators of energetic ions, and electrons. The angular distribution, composition, and spectra of energetic particles observed near Earth gives information on the acceleration mechanisms. A class of energetic particle observations particularly useful in understanding the solar acceleration is the near-relativistic impulsive beam-like electron events. During five years of operation the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) has measured well over 400 electron events. Approximately 25% of these electron events are impulsive beam-like events that are released onto interplanetary field lines predominantly from western solar longitudes. We extend our initial 3 year study during the rise to solar maximum (Haggerty and Roelof, 2002; Simnett et al., 2002) to a five year statistical analysis of these beam-like energetic electron events in relationship to optical flares, microwave emission, soft X-ray emission, metric and decametric type-III radio bursts, and coronal mass ejections.     

Coma morphology and dust emission pattern of comet Halley

This contribution starts with a short overview on cometary dust modelling and then focuses on the application of coma modelling with respect to in-situ measurements of cometary dust and ground based observations. The fountain model, valid for the dynamics of small cometary dust particles, is discussed. Models using Keplarian theory for the motion of the dust particles are outlined and the ESOC coma model is presented. Some direct applications of this model to analyse the results of the recent spacecraft flybys of comet Halley, as dust flux profiles, particle ground tracks and envelope positions, are shown. To compare the model with ground-based astronomical observations, the utilization of the ESOC coma model for the generation of synthetic images is demonstrated and some future prospects of this technique are outlined.     

Energetic particle environment in near-Earth orbit.

The hazard of exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation is one of the primary concerns of extended manned space missions and a continuous threat for the numerous spacecraft in operation today. In the near-Earth environment the main sources of radiation are solar energetic particles (SEP), galactic cosmic rays (GCR), and geomagnetically trapped particles, predominantly protons and electrons. The intensity of the SEP and GCR source depends primarily on the phase of the solar cycle. Due to the shielding effect of the Earth's magnetic field, the observed intensity of SEP and GCR particles in a near-Earth orbit will also depend on the orbital parameters altitude and inclination. The magnetospheric source strength depends also on these orbital parameters because they determine the frequency and location of radiation belt passes. In this paper an overview of the various sources of radiation in the near-Earth orbit will be given and first results obtained with the Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX) will be discussed. SAMPEX was launched on 3 July 1992 into a near polar (inclination 82 degrees) low altitude (510 x 675 km) orbit. The SAMPEX payload contains four separate instruments of high sensitivity covering the energy range 0.5 to several hundred MeV/nucleon for ions and 0.4 to 30 MeV for electrons. This low altitude polar orbit with zenith-oriented instrumentation provides a new opportunity for a systematic study of the near-Earth energetic particle environment.     

Optical observations of ion tail structures and velocity flows in comet Halley during the period of the five spacecraft encounters

Observations of the distribution and evolution of a number of the major constituents of the neutral coma (CN, C₂, CH, O, H, Na) of Comet Halley were made during two observing periods, each of 3 weeks duration, from the Table Mountain Observatory, California. The first period was pre-perihelion, in late November/December 1985. The second period, from Feb 28 to March 22 1986, covered the five close spacecraft encounters with Halley, and when ICE flew some 20 M Km upstream of Halley. Sodium emission was recorded in early Dec 1985 from the near-nuclear region at a heliocentric distance of 1.4 AU, an observation confirmed with the UCL Doppler Imaging system. The CN coma could be detected to an outer diameter of more than 4M Km in Dec 1985, and 5 – 6M Km in early March 1986, allowing the production of heavy cometary pick-up ions to be estimated. Observations of the cometary ion coma (H₂O⁺ and CO⁺ ions) showed considerable variability from day to day, particularly during the period of the spacecraft encounters. These observations have been used, in conjuction with the neutral coma data, to map the flow field of cometary ions. In early Dec. 1985, Halley developed a traditional “type I” ion tail, which persisted until late April 1986. It has also been possible to evaluate the ion flow fields within the narrow core of the ion tail, and in the surrounding diffuse, low density, regions populated by pick-up and extracted cometary ions, and by slowed solar wind ions. Tail disconnection events were observed on several occasions, particularly between the VEGA 2 and GIOTTO encounters, and with a highly spectacular event on March 19 1986.     

Probing heliospheric diffusion coefficients with solar energetic particles

The dynamics of solar particle events provide a direct link to the understanding of properties of wave–particle interactions, and to the nature of the solar wind fluctuations. Depending on their energy, the often simultaneously observed electrons, protons and ions interact with different wavenumber ranges of the fluctuations, and are sensitive to various aspects of the dynamical nature of the solar wind turbulence. In general, the evolution of particle events is also sensitive to the spatial variation of the transport parameters between the Sun and a few AU. Together with in situ plasma and magnetic field observations this information can be used to extrapolate the properties of transport parameters into the more distant Heliosphere. Recent developments in the theory of parallel transport of energetic particles, and examples for the modelling of solar particle events and the derivation of transport parameters are considered. A dynamical quasi-linear theory is presented which gives special emphasis to the geometry and dynamic nature of the fluctuations, and which is able to provide particle mean free paths solely from observed plasma parameters, in good agreement with those derived by the modelling. Possibilities to apply the above results to the study of other energetic particle processes in the Heliosphere are discussed.     

太阳宇宙线源物质的高色球层模式和重离子丰度过量机制的探讨

本文利用太阳能量粒子事件中重离子平均丰度过量的资料,计算得到太阳能量粒子源物质的温度,提出了描述太阳宇宙线能量粒子源物质的新模式——高色球层模式;太阳耀斑观测确定,太阳宇宙线耀斑的加速区一般最可能出现在低日冕甚至高达几万公里的高度,从而,太阳宇宙线的源和加速区通常不位于同一区域;进而提出了描述太阳能量粒子事件中重离子丰度过量的可能机制——其源物质是通过太阳黑子的冻结型无力场从高色球层输送到活动区,形成耀斑前加速区内重离子丰度大和耀斑后宇宙线中重元素丰度的过量.      

New insights from cross-correlation studies between solar activity indices and cosmic-ray flux during Forbush decrease events

Observed galactic cosmic ray intensity can be subjected to a transient decrease. These so-called Forbush decreases are driven by coronal mass ejection induced shockwaves in the heliosphere. By combining in situ measurements by space borne instruments with ground-based cosmic ray observations, we investigate the relationship between solar energetic particle flux, various solar activity indices, and intensity measurements of cosmic rays during such an event. We present cross-correlation study done using proton flux data from the SOHO/ERNE instrument, as well as data collected during some of the strongest Forbush decreases over the last two completed solar cycles by the network of neutron monitor detectors and different solar observatories. We have demonstrated connection between the shape of solar energetic particles fluence spectra and selected coronal mass ejection and Forbush decrease parameters, indicating that power exponents used to model these fluence spectra could be valuable new parameters in similar analysis of mentioned phenomena. They appear to be better predictor variables of Forbush decrease magnitude in interplanetary magnetic field than coronal mass ejection velocities.     

等离子体彗尾动力学的数值研究

本文基于可压缩磁流体动力学模型,数值研究了尾瓣巾具有超Alfven速流动的等离子体彗尾的动力学特征。结果表明,等离子体片和尾瓣之间的剪切等离子体流动将会激发流动撕裂模不稳定性,引起彗尾等离子体片中发生磁场重联,形成磁岛和高密度的等离子体团。进而模拟了太阳风引起的局部驱动力对等离子体彗尾中磁场重联的影响,其特征时间远大于流动撕裂模。我们认为一些观测到的等离子体彗尾中的四块和彗尾截断事件可能主要与彗尾中剪切等离子体流动所引起的流动撕裂模不稳定性有关。