Data from the Voyager probes and the Interstellar Boundary Explorer have revealed the importance of pick-up ions (PUIs) in understanding the character and behavior of the outer heliosphere, the region of interaction between the solar wind and the interstellar medium. In the outer heliosphere PUIs carry a large fraction of the thermal pressure, which effects the nature of the termination shock, and they are a dominate component of pressure in the heliosheath. This paper describes the development of a new multi-ion, multi-fluid 3-D magnetohydrodynamic model of the outer heliosphere. This model has the added capability of tracking the individual fluid properties of multiple ion populations. For this initial study two ion populations are modeled: the thermal solar wind ions and PUIs produced in the supersonic solar wind. The model also includes 4 neutral fluids that interact through charge-exchange with the ion fluids. The new multi-ion simulation reproduces the significant heating of PUIs at the termination shock, as inferred from Voyager observations, and provides properties of PUIs in the 3-D heliosheath. The thinning of the heliosheath due to the loss of thermal energy in the heliosheath from PUI and neutral interaction is also quantified. In future work the multi-ion, multi-fluid model will be used to simulate energetic neutral atom (ENA) maps for comparison with the Interstellar Boundary Explorer, particularly at PUI energies of less than 1 keV.
In the outer heliosphere, beyond the solar wind termination shock, it is expected that the warped heliospheric current sheet forms a region of closely-packed, multiple, thin current sheets. Such a system may be subject to the ion-kinetic tearing instability, and hence generate magnetic islands and hot populations of ions associated with magnetic reconnection. Reconnection processes in this environment have important implications for local particle transport, and for particle acceleration at reconnection sites and in turbulence. We study this complex environment by means of three-dimensional hy…
HelMod is a Monte Carlo code developed to describe the transport of Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) through the heliosphere from the interstellar space to the Earth. In the current HelMod version 4 the modulation process, based on Parker's equation, is applied to the propagation of GCRs in the inner and outer heliosphere, i.e., including the heliosheath. HelMod was proved to reproduce protons, nuclei and electrons cosmic rays spectra observed during solar cycles 23-24 by several detectors, for instance, PAMELA, BESS and AMS-02. In particular, the unprecedented accuracy of AMS-02 observations allow…
Neutral hydrogen has been shown to greatly impact the plasma flow in the heliopshere and the location of the heliospheric boundaries. We present the results of the Solar-wind with Hydrogen Ion Exchange and Large-scale Dynamics (SHIELD) model, a new, self-consistent, kinetic-MHD model of the outer heliosphere within the Space Weather Modeling Framework. The charge-exchange mean free path is on order of the size of the heliosphere; therefore, the neutral atoms cannot be described as a fluid. The SHIELD model couples the MHD solution for a single plasma fluid to the kinetic solution from for neut…
Using one-dimensional hybrid expanding box model we investigate properties of the solar wind in the outer heliosphere. We assume a proton-electron plasma with a strictly transverse ambient magnetic field and, beside the expansion, we take into account influence of a continuous injection of cold pick-up protons through the charge-exchange process between the solar wind protons and hydrogen of interstellar origin. The injected cold pick-up protons form a ring distribution function that rapidly becomes unstable and generate Alfvén cyclotron waves. The Alfvén cyclotron waves scatter pick-up proton…
The turbulence and spatial nonuniformity of the guide magnetic field cause two competitive effects, namely, the scattering effect and the adiabatic focusing effect, respectively. In this work, we numerically solve the five-dimensional Fokker-Planck transport equation to investigate the radial evolutions of these important effects undergone by the solar energetic particles (SEPs) propagating through interplanetary space. We analyze the interplay process between the scattering and adiabatic focusing effects in the context of three-dimensional propagation, with special attention to the scenario o…
A two-dimensional, time-dependent numerical model is used to calculate the modulation of cosmic rays in the heliosphere. Computations are compared to spacecraft observations in the inner and outer heliosphere. It is shown that the model produces cosmic ray proton intensities compatible to different spacecraft observations on a global scale, at Earth and along both Voyager spacecraft trajectories. The study reveals that when the same modulation parameters, which resulted in compatible intensities along Voyager 1, were assumed along the Voyager 2 trajectory, the model failed to reproduce the obs…
A large amount of magnetized plasma is frequently ejected from the Sun as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Some of these ejections are detected in the solar wind as magnetic clouds (MCs) that have flux rope signatures. Magnetic clouds are structures that typically expand in the inner heliosphere. We derive the expansion properties of MCs in the outer heliosphere from one to five astronomical units to compare them with those in the inner heliosphere. We analyze MCs observed by the Ulysses spacecraft using insitu magnetic field and plasma measurements. The MC boundaries are defined in the MC frame…
We describe the interface between the outer heliosphere and the local interstellar medium (LISM) surrounding the Sun. The components of the inner LISM are the four partially ionized clouds [the Local Interstellar Cloud (LIC), G cloud, Blue cloud, and Aql cloud] that are in contact with the outer heliosphere, and ionized gas produced by EUV radiation primarily from $ε$~CMa. We construct the three-dimensional shape of the LIC based on interstellar line absorption along 62 sightlines and show that in the direction of $ε$~CMa, $β$~CMa, and Sirius~B the neutral hydrogen column density from the cent…
Understanding the outer heliospheric interface is a major challenge, especially in the light of recent observations by the IBEX and Voyager missions. We present further details on a new required theoretical correction that has been identified as substantial in a recent paper, the so-called source depletion effect. These results complement and expand earlier calculations of transit-time delays by presenting global skymaps of Energetic Neutral Atoms (ENAs) calculated with the depletion correction, comparing them with skymaps calculated without these corrections. Our results demonstrate that the …
We discuss results of magnetohydrodynamical model simulations of plasma dynamics in the proximity of the heliopause (HP). The model is shown to fit details of the magnetic field variations observed by Voyager 1 spacecraft during the transition from the heliosphere to the local interstellar medium (LISM). We propose an interpretation of magnetic field structures observed by Voyager 1 in terms of fine-scale physical processes. Our simulations reveal an effective transport mechanism of relatively dense LISM plasma across the reconnecting HP into the heliosphere. The mechanism is associated with a…
The structure and dynamics of the magnetospheres of the outer planets, particularly Saturn and Jupiter, have been explored both through remote and in-situ observations. Interpreting these observations often necessitates simultaneous knowledge of the solar-wind conditions impinging on the magnetosphere. Without an available upstream monitor, solar-wind context is typically provided using models initiated with either the output of magnetogram-constrained coronal models or, more commonly, in-situ observations from 1 AU. While 1-AU observations provide a direct measure of solar wind conditions, th…
A recently discovered filament of polarized starlight that traces a coherent magnetic field is shown to have several properties that are consistent with an origin in the outer heliosheath of the heliosphere: (1) The magnetic field that provides the best fit to the polarization position angles is directed within 6.7+-11 degrees of the observed upwind direction of the flow of interstellar neutral helium gas through the heliosphere. (2) The magnetic field is ordered; the component of the variation of the polarization position angles that can be attributed to magnetic turbulence is small. (3) The …
The solar wind (SW) and local interstellar medium (LISM) are turbulent media. Their interaction is governed by complex physical processes and creates heliospheric regions with significantly different properties in terms of particle populations, bulk flow and turbulence. Our knowledge of the solar wind turbulence \nature and dynamics mostly relies on near-Earth and near-Sun observations, and has been increasingly improving in recent years due to the availability of a wealth of space missions, including multi-spacecraft missions. In contrast, the properties of turbulence in the outer heliosphere…
The shape of the solar wind bubble within the interstellar medium, the so-called heliosphere, has been explored over six decades. As the Sun moves through the surrounding partially-ionized medium, neutral hydrogen atoms penetrate the heliosphere, and through charge-exchange with the supersonic solar wind, create a population of hot pick-up ions (PUIs). The Termination Shock (TS) crossing by Voyager 2 (V2) data demonstrated that the heliosheath (HS) (the region of shocked solar wind) pressure is dominated by suprathermal particles. Here we use a novel magnetohydrodynamic model that treats the f…
Interplanetary scintillation (IPS) is a useful tool for detecting coronal mass ejections (CMEs) throughout interplanetary space. Global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the heliosphere, which are usually used to predict the arrival and geo-effectiveness of CMEs, can be improved using IPS data. In this study, we demonstrate an MHD simulation that includes IPS data from multiple stations to improve CME modelling. The CMEs, which occurred on 09-10 September 2017, were observed over the period 10-12 September 2017 using the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) and IPS array of the Institute for Spa…
The heliosphere is formed due to interaction between the solar wind (SW) and local interstellar medium (LISM). The shape and position of the heliospheric boundary, the heliopause, in space depend on the parameters of interacting plasma flows. The interplay between the asymmetrizing effect of the interstellar magnetic field and charge exchange between ions and neutral atoms plays an important role in the SW-LISM interaction. By performing three-dimensional, MHD plasma / kinetic neutral atom simulations, we determine the width of the outer heliosheath - the LISM plasma region affected by the pre…
The Voyager spacecraft are providing the first in situ measurements of physical properties in the outer heliosphere beyond the heliopause. These data, together with data from the IBEX and HST spacecraft and physical models consistent with these data, now provide critical measurements of pressures in the heliosphere and surrounding interstellar medium. Using these data, we assemble the first comprehensive survey of total pressures inside and outside of the heliopause, in the interstellar gas surrounding the heliosphere, and in the surrounding Local Cavity to determine whether the total pressure…
Alfvénic fluctuations in the solar wind display many properties reflecting an ongoing nonlinear cascade, e.g. a well-defined spectrum in frequency, together with some characteristics more commonly associated with the linear propagation of waves from the Sun, such as the variation of fluctuation amplitude with distance, dominated by solar wind expansion effects. Therefore both nonlinearities and expansion must be included simultaneously in any successful model of solar wind turbulence evolution. Because of the disparate spatial scales involved, direct numerical simulations of turbulence in the …
The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) has now operated in space for 7 years and returned nearly continuous observations that have led to scientific discoveries and reshaped our entire understanding of the outer heliosphere and its interaction with the local interstellar medium. Here we extend prior work, adding the 2014-2015 data for the first time, and examine, validate, initially analyze, and provide a complete 7-year set of Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) observations from ~0.1 to 6 keV. The data, maps, and documentation provided here represent the 10th major release of IBEX data and inclu…
The classic accepted view of the heliosphere is a quiescent, comet-like shape aligned in the direction of the Sun's travel through the interstellar medium (ISM) extending for 1000's of AUs (AU: astronomical unit). Here we show, based on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations, that the tension (hoop) force of the twisted magnetic field of the sun confines the solar wind plasma beyond the termination shock and drives jets to the North and South very much like astrophysical jets. These jets are deflected into the tail region by the motion of the Sun through the ISM similar to bent galactic jets mo…
The magnetic fields of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs), which originate close to the Sun in the form of a flux rope, determine their geoeffectiveness. Therefore, robust flux rope-based models of CMEs are required to perform magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations aimed at space weather predictions. We propose a modified spheromak model and demonstrate its applicability to CME simulations. In this model, such properties of a simulated CME as the poloidal and toroidal magnetic fluxes, and the helicity sign can be controlled with a set of input parameters. We propose a robust techniqu…
Models play an important role in our understanding of the global structure of the solar wind and its interaction with the interstellar medium. A critical ingredient in many types of models are the charge-exchange collisions between ions and neutrals. Some ambiguity exists in the charge-exchange cross-section for protons and hydrogen atoms, depending on which experimental data is used. The differences are greatest at low energies, and for the plasma-neutral interaction in the outer heliosheath may exceed 50\%. In this paper we assess a number of existing data sets and formulae for proton-hydrog…
Ensemble Modeling of the Solar Wind Flow with Boundary Conditions Governed by Synchronic Photospheric Magnetograms. I. Multi-point Validation in the Inner Heliosphere
This paper provides a detailed description of the latest version of our model of the solar wind (SW) interaction with the local interstellar medium (LISM). This model has already been applied to the analysis of Lyman-alpha absorption spectra toward nearby stars and for analyses of Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/SWAN data. Katushkina et al. (this issue) used the model results to analyze IBEX-Lo data. At the same time, the details of this model have not yet been published. This is a three-dimensional (3D) kinetic-magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) model that takes into account SW and interstellar p…
The solar wind carves a bubble in the surrounding interstellar medium (ISM), known as the heliosphere. Charged interstellar dust grains (ISDG) encountering the heliosphere may be diverted around the heliopause or penetrate it depending on their charge-to-mass ratio. We present new calculations of trajectories of ISDG in the heliosphere, and the dust density distributions that result. We include up-to-date grain charging calculations using a realistic UV radiation field and full 3-D magnetohydrodynamic fluid + kinetic models for the heliosphere. Models with two different (constant) polarities f…
Non-equilibrium ionization (NEI) is a key process often times neglected when modeling astrophysical plasmas with thermodynamical timescales much shorter than the timescales for ionization and recombination. In this paper, we perform NEI modeling on a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation of the solar wind during the Whole Sun Month (Carrington Rotation 1913 from 1996 August 22 to September 18), and compare the resulting charge state distributions with in situ measurements made with the Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer (SWICS) on Ulysses. We trace the wind trajectory back to 20$R_\odot$ u…
The physical conditions within our heliosphere are driven by the Sun's motion through an evolving interstellar environment that remains largely unexplored. The next generation of outer heliosphere and interstellar explorers will answer fundamental questions about the heliosphere's relationship with the very local interstellar medium (VLISM) by diving deeper into the Sun's interstellar surroundings. The impact of these future missions will be vastly enhanced by concurrent, interdisciplinary studies that examine the direct connections between conditions within the heliosphere, the heliosphere's …
We propose that magnetic reconnection at the heliopause only occurs where the interstellar magnetic field points nearly anti-parallel to the heliospheric field. By using large-scale magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the heliosphere to provide the initial conditions for kinetic simulations of heliopause (HP) reconnection we show that the energetic pickup ions downstream from the solar wind termination shock induce large diamagnetic drifts in the reconnecting plasma and stabilize non-anti-parallel reconnection. With this constraint the MHD simulations can show where HP reconnection most l…
Observations of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) allow for remote sensing of plasma properties in distant regions of the heliosphere. So far, most of the observations have concerned only hydrogen atoms. In this paper, we present perspectives for observations of helium energetic neutral atoms (He ENAs). We calculated the expected intensities of He ENAs created by the neutralization of helium ions in the inner heliosheath and through the secondary ENA mechanism in the outer heliosheath. We found that the dominant source region for He ENAs is the inner heliosheath. The obtained magnitudes of intens…
Plasma velocity and magnetic field measurements from the Voyager 2 mission are used to study solar wind turbulence in the slow solar wind at two different heliocentric distances, 5 and 29 astronomical units, sufficiently far apart to provide information on the radial evolution of this turbulence. The magnetic helicity and the cross-helicity, which express the correlation between the plasma velocity and the magnetic field, are used to characterize the turbulence. Wave number spectra are computed by means of the Taylor hypothesis applied to time resolved single point Voyager 2 measurements. The …
The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft is providing the first all-sky maps of the energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) produced by charge-exchange between interstellar neutral \HI\ atoms and heliospheric solar wind and pickup ions in the heliosphere boundary regions. The 'edge' of the interstellar cloud presently surrounding the heliosphere extends less than 0.1 pc in the upwind direction, terminating at an unknown distance, indicating that the outer boundary conditions of the heliosphere could change during the lifetime of the IBEX satellite. Using reasonable values for future outer h…
Direct-sampling observations of interstellar neutral (ISN) He by Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) provide valuable insight into the physical state of and processes operating in the interstellar medium ahead of the heliosphere. The ISN He atom signals are observed at the four lowest ESA steps of the IBEX-Lo sensor. The observed signal is a mixture of the primary and secondary components of ISN He and H. Previously, only data from one of the ESA steps have been used. Here, we extended the analysis to data collected in the three lowest ESA steps with the strongest ISN He signal, for the obse…
We investigate the signals from neutral He atoms observed from Earth orbit in 2010 by IBEX. The full He signal observed during the 2010 observation season can be explained as a superposition of pristine neutral interstellar He gas and an additional population of neutral He that we call the Warm Breeze. The Warm Breeze is approximately two-fold slower and 2.5 times warmer than the primary interstellar He population, and its density in front of the heliosphere is ~7% that of the neutral interstellar helium. The inflow direction of the Warm Breeze differs by ~19deg from the inflow direction of in…
Interstellar neutral atoms provide a remote diagnostic of plasma in the outer heliosheath and the very local interstellar medium via charge exchange collisions that convert ions into atoms and vice versa. So far, most studies of interstellar atoms assumed that daughter hydrogen atoms directly inherit the kinetic properties of parent protons. This assumption neglects angular scattering of the interacting particles. However, for low relative velocities, as expected for charge exchanges in the outer heliosheath, this scattering is significant. In this study, we present how the parameters of daugh…
We investigate the radial dependence of the spectral break separating the inertial from the dissipation range in power density spectra of interplanetary magnetic field fluctuations, between $0.42$ and $5.3$ AU, during radial alignments between MESSENGER and WIND for the inner heliosphere and between WIND and ULYSSES for the outer heliosphere. We found that the spectral break moves to higher and higher frequencies as the heliocentric distance decreases. The radial dependence of the corresponding wavenumber is of the kind $κ_b\sim R^{-1.08}$ in good agreement with that of the wavenumber derived …
It has recently been established that the evolution of protoplanetary disks is primarily driven by magnetized disk winds, requiring large-scale magnetic flux threading the disks. The size of such disks is expected to shrink in time, as opposed to the conventional scenario of viscous expansion. We present the first global 2D non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of protoplanetary disks that are truncated in the outer radius, aiming to understand the interaction of the disk with the interstellar environment, as well as global evolution of the disk and magnetic flux. We find that as the…
We simulated the signal due to neutral He atoms, observed by Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX), assuming that charge exchange collisions between neutral He atoms and He+ ions operate everywhere between the heliopause and a distant source region in the local interstellar cloud, where the neutral and charged components are in thermal equilibrium. We simulated several test cases of the plasma flow within the outer heliosheath and investigated the signal generation for plasma flows both in the absence and in the presence of the interstellar magnetic field. We found that a signal in the portion…
The origins of the hot solar corona and the supersonically expanding solar wind are still the subject of debate. A key obstacle in the way of producing realistic simulations of the Sun-heliosphere system is the lack of a physically motivated way of specifying the coronal heating rate. Recent one-dimensional models have been found to reproduce many observed features of the solar wind by assuming the energy comes from Alfven waves that are partially reflected, then dissipated by magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. However, the nonlocal physics of wave reflection has made it difficult to apply these …
Interstellar neutral gas atoms penetrate the heliopause and reach 1~au, where they are detected by IBEX. The flow of neutral interstellar helium through the perturbed interstellar plasma in the outer heliosheath (OHS) results in creation of the secondary population of interstellar He atoms, the so-called Warm Breeze, due to charge exchange with perturbed ions. The secondary population brings the imprint of the OHS conditions to the IBEX-Lo instrument. Based on a global simulation of the heliosphere with measurement-based parameters and detailed kinetic simulation of the filtration of He in the…
Modeling of Coronal Mass Ejection Originated from a Sheared Arcade of Realistic Active-Region Scale and Its Propagation in the Heliosphere: Methodology
State Key Laboratory of Solar Activity and Space Weather, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen（深圳航天学院）；National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院国家空间科学中心）；School of Astronomy and Space Science and Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics, Nanjing University（南京大学天文与空间科学学院）；Centre for mathematical Plasma Astrophysics, Department of Mathematics, KU Leuven（鲁汶大学数学系数学等离子体天体物理中心）
This paper reviews past research and new studies underway of the local interstellar environment and its changing influence on the heliosphere. The size, shape, and physical properties of the heliosphere outside of the heliopause are determined by the surrounding environment - now the outer region of the Local Interstellar Cloud (LIC). Analysis of high-resolution HST spectra led to a kinematic model with many interstellar clouds. This analysis identified fifteen clouds located within about 10 pc of the Sun and their mean temperatures, turbulence, and velocity vectors. With the increasing number…
This review summarizes our current understanding of the outer heliosphere and local interstellar medium (LISM) inferred from observations and modeling of interplanetary Lyman-$α$ emission. The emission is produced by solar Lyman-alpha photons (121.567 nm) backscattered by interstellar H atoms inflowing to the heliosphere from the LISM. Studies of Lyman-alpha radiation determined the parameters of interstellar hydrogen within a few astronomical units from the Sun. The interstellar hydrogen atoms appeared to be decelerated, heated, and shifted compared to the helium atoms. The detected decelerat…
It is expected that as the Sun travels through the interstellar medium (ISM), there will be different filtration of Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) that affect Earth. The effect of GCR on Earth's atmosphere and climate is still uncertain. Although the interaction with molecular clouds was previously considered, the terrestrial impact of compact cold clouds was neglected. There is overwhelming geological evidence from 60Fe and 244Pu isotopes that Earth was in direct contact with the ISM 2 million years ago, and the local ISM is home to several nearby cold clouds. Here we show, with a state-of the ar…
Nature of Transonic Sub-Alfvénic Turbulence and Density Fluctuations in the Near-Sun Solar Wind: Insights from Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations and Nearly-Incompressible Models
University of Wisconsin-Madison（威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校）；Los Alamos National Laboratory（洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室）；University of Alabama in Huntsville（阿拉巴马大学亨茨维尔分校）；Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research (CSPAR)（空间等离子体与航空研究发展中心）
The solar wind speed plays a key role in the transport of CME out of the Sun and ultimately determines the arrival time of CME-driven shocks in the heliosphere. Here, we develop an empirical model of the solar wind parameters at the inner boundary (18 solar radii, Rs) used in our global, 3D MHD model (G3DMHD) or other equivalent ones. The model takes solar magnetic field maps at 2.5 Rs (which is based on the Potential Field Source Surface, PFSS model) and interpolates the solar wind plasma and field out to 18 Rs using the algorithm of Wang and Sheeley [1990a]. A formula V_{18Rs} = V1 + V2 fs^α…
Analysis of data from the Interstellar Boundary EXplorer (IBEX) has revealed the presence of a flow of neutral helium through the inner solar system that most likely emanates from the outer heliosheath, where a distinct population of neutral He is produced by charge exchange processes. This secondary He flow has been modeled using codes designed to study interstellar flows through the heliosphere, but a laminar flow is not a good approximation for the outer heliosheath. I present a simple parametrization for a more appropriate divergent flow, and demonstrate how the secondary He particles migh…
The picture of the heliopause (HP) -- the boundary between the domains of the sun and the local interstellar medium (LISM) -- as a pristine interface with a large rotation in the magnetic field fails to describe recent Voyager 1 (V1) spacecraft data. Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the global heliosphere reveal that the rotation angle of the magnetic field across the HP at V1 is small. Particle-in-cell simulations, based on cuts through the MHD model at the location of V1, suggest that the sectored region of the heliosheath (HS) produces large-scale magnetic islands that reconnect wit…
