Issue |
A&A
Volume 650, June 2021
Parker Solar Probe: Ushering a new frontier in space exploration
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | A12 | |
Number of page(s) | 9 | |
Section | The Sun and the Heliosphere | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202039298 | |
Published online | 02 June 2021 |
Detection of small magnetic flux ropes from the third and fourth Parker Solar Probe encounters
1
Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research (CSPAR), The University of Alabama in Huntsville,
Huntsville,
AL
35805,
USA
e-mail: lz0009@uah.edu
2
Department of Space Science, The University of Alabama in Huntsville,
Huntsville,
AL
35899,
USA
3
National Institute for Astrophysics, Astrophysical Observatory of Torino Via Osservatorio 20,
10025
Pino Torinese,
Italy
4
Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor,
MI
48109,
USA
5
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory,
Cambridge,
MA
02138,
USA
6
Physics Department, University of California,
Berkeley,
CA
94720-7300,
USA
7
Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California,
Berkeley,
CA
94720-7450,
USA
8
The Blackett Laboratory,
Imperial College London,
London,
SW7 2AZ,
UK
9
School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London,
London
E1 4NS,
UK
10
LPC2E, CNRS and University of Orléans,
Orléans,
France
11
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis,
MN
55455,
USA
12
Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt,
MD
20771,
USA
13
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado,
Boulder,
CO
80303,
USA
14
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona,
Tucson,
AZ
85721,
USA
15
Department of Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona,
Tucson,
AZ
85719,
USA
16
Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University,
Laurel,
MD
20723,
USA
Received:
30
August
2020
Accepted:
2
October
2020
Context. Aims. We systematically search for magnetic flux rope structures in the solar wind to within the closest distance to the Sun of ~0.13 AU, using data from the third and fourth orbits of the Parker Solar Probe.
Methods. We extended our previous magnetic helicity-based technique of identifying magnetic flux rope structures. The method was improved upon to incorporate the azimuthal flow, which becomes larger as the spacecraft approaches the Sun.
Results. A total of 21 and 34 magnetic flux ropes are identified during the third (21-day period) and fourth (17-day period) orbits of the Parker Solar Probe, respectively. We provide a statistical analysis of the identified structures, including their relation to the streamer belt and heliospheric current sheet crossing.
Key words: solar wind / Sun: magnetic fields / turbulence / methods: observational
© ESO 2021
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