Properties of the Near-Sun Solar Wind
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
The solar wind is a hot, tenuous plasma that flows from the Sun into deep space. At the Earth, its interaction with our planet's magnetic field causes the aurora but can also damage satellites and disrupt communications and power grids. Although the solar wind can be sampled with a number of spacecraft, and we have ground based measurements of the Sun's surface and atmosphere, there is still much that we do not know about how the Sun creates the solar wind and how it evolves between its source and its arrival at the Earth.
In 2017, the European Space Agency will launch Solar Orbiter, which will travel closer to the Sun than ever before, within Mercury's orbit, to measure the solar wind in the inner solar system. Imperial are building the magnetic field instrument for Solar Orbiter.
In preparation for the launch of Solar Orbiter, it is planned to re-visit earlier measurements of the solar wind near the Sun, from the twin Helios spacecraft that were in operation in the 1970's and 1980's. These measurements are high quality, but advances in computer power in the last thirty years mean that they offer rich pickings for new discoveries. There is also more recent data from the Messenger spacecraft in orbit around Mercury.
We will be using Helios and Messenger data to study fundamental properties of the solar wind in the inner solar system: small scale solar wind structures; the interactions of different solar wind streams; and the development of shocks and turbulence.
In 2017, the European Space Agency will launch Solar Orbiter, which will travel closer to the Sun than ever before, within Mercury's orbit, to measure the solar wind in the inner solar system. Imperial are building the magnetic field instrument for Solar Orbiter.
In preparation for the launch of Solar Orbiter, it is planned to re-visit earlier measurements of the solar wind near the Sun, from the twin Helios spacecraft that were in operation in the 1970's and 1980's. These measurements are high quality, but advances in computer power in the last thirty years mean that they offer rich pickings for new discoveries. There is also more recent data from the Messenger spacecraft in orbit around Mercury.
We will be using Helios and Messenger data to study fundamental properties of the solar wind in the inner solar system: small scale solar wind structures; the interactions of different solar wind streams; and the development of shocks and turbulence.
Organisations
Publications
Stansby D
(2019)
Diagnosing solar wind origins using in situ measurements in the inner heliosphere
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Stansby D
(2019)
Alpha particle thermodynamics in the inner heliosphere fast solar wind
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Stansby D
(2018)
A New Inner Heliosphere Proton Parameter Dataset from the Helios Mission.
in Solar physics
Stansby D
(2016)
EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINATION OF WHISTLER WAVE DISPERSION RELATION IN THE SOLAR WIND
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Stansby D
(2018)
Number density structures in the inner heliosphere
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Perrone D
(2019)
Radial evolution of the solar wind in pure high-speed streams: HELIOS revised observations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Matteini L
(2018)
On the 1/f Spectrum in the Solar Wind and Its Connection with Magnetic Compressibility
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Horbury T
(2018)
Short, large-amplitude speed enhancements in the near-Sunfast solar wind
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Burrell A
(2018)
Snakes on a Spaceship-An Overview of Python in Heliophysics
in Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Studentship Projects
Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ST/N504336/1 | 30/09/2015 | 30/03/2021 | |||
1708618 | Studentship | ST/N504336/1 | 30/09/2015 | 31/03/2019 | David Stansby |
Title | HelioPy |
Description | HelioPy is a python software package for automatically downloading and importing common datasets in heliospheric physics. |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2017 |
Open Source License? | Yes |
Impact | Aside from my personal use, I am aware of several other people who have started using the software for their work. |
URL | http://docs.heliopy.org/en/stable/ |
Title | pfsspy |
Description | A python package for computing Potential Field Source Surface magnetic field models of the Sun. |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Open Source License? | Yes |
Impact | First documented and open source packaged for carrying out potential field source surface modelling of the Sun. |
URL | https://github.com/dstansby/pfsspy |