THE INFLUENCE OF THE LOCAL INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM ON THE SOLAR WIND DYNAMICS IN THE INNER HELIOSPHERE

The consequences of the interaction between the solar wind and the local interstellar medium for the wind region enclosed by the heliospheric shock are reviewed. After identifying the principal mechanisms to influence the dynamics of the solar wind, an approach allowing the simultaneous incorporation of neutral atoms, pick-up ions, cosmic rays and energetic electrons into a multifluid model of the expanding wind plasma is outlined. The effects of these particle species are discussed in detail, with special emphasis on the electron component which behaves more like a quasi-static hot gas rather than an expanding fluid. This electron gas is effectively trapped within a three-dimensional trough of a circumsolar electric potential whose outer fringes are possibly determined by the density distribution of anomalous cosmic rays. The electrons are proven to be a globally structered component of great importance for the solar wind momentum flow contributing to a triggering of the solar wind dynamics by asymmetric interstellar boundary conditions. Finally, the consequences for the relative motion of the Sun and the local interstellar medium as well as for the solar system as a whole are described.     

Concentration Measurements in a Transient Helium-Air Mixture Utilizing an Electron Beam

In order to determine the available test time in a helium-driven shock tunnel, an interface detection system has been developed to indicate the arrival of helium driver gas at the test section. This is done by exciting the gas at the test section with a high-energy electron beam and spectroscopically analyzing the resulting fluorescence to determine ine the helium concentration. Relative values of helium and air emission intensities are calculated and compared with experimental data from both static and transient gas mixtures.