Issue |
A&A
Volume 652, August 2021
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | A131 | |
Number of page(s) | 9 | |
Section | The Sun and the Heliosphere | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202141048 | |
Published online | 24 August 2021 |
Dynamics of nanodust in the vicinity of a stellar corona: Effect of plasma corotation
1
Space Research Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences, Bartycka 18A, 00-716 Warsaw, Poland
e-mail: ace@cbk.waw.pl
2
Department of Physics and Technology, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Postboks 6050 Langnes, 9037 Tromso, Norway
e-mail: ingrid.b.mann@uit.no
Received:
11
April
2021
Accepted:
5
June
2021
Context. In the vicinity of the Sun or other stars, the motion of the coronal and stellar wind plasma must include some amount of corotation, which could affect the dynamics of charged dust particles. In the case of the Sun, this region is now investigated in situ by the Parker Solar Probe. Charged dust particles coming from the vicinity of the Sun can also reach, and possibly be detected by, the Solar Orbiter.
Aims. We use numerical simulations and theoretical models to study the effect of plasma corotation on the motion of charged nanodust particles released from the parent bodies moving in Keplerian orbits, with particular attention to the case of trapped particles.
Methods. We used two methods: the motion of nanodust is described either by numerical solutions of full equations of motion, or by a two-dimensional (distance vs. radial velocity) model based on the guiding centre approximation. The models of the plasma and magnetic field in the vicinity of the star are based on analytical solutions that satisfy the freezing-in equations.
Results. Including plasma corotation does not prevent trapping of nanodust in the vicinity of the Sun or other stars. This result can be understood with the help of the model based on the guiding centre approximation. For the amount of corotation expected near the Sun, the outer limit of the trapped region is almost unaffected. If the corotation persists outside the trapping region, the speed of particles ejected from the Sun is moderately increased. A strong effect of plasma corotation on charged particle dynamics occurs for the star with a high rotation rate and/or a low value of the stellar wind speed.
Key words: Sun: heliosphere / solar wind / acceleration of particles / interplanetary medium / circumstellar matter
© A. Czechowski and I. Mann 2021
Open Access article, published by EDP Sciences, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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