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Magnetic and Velocity Fluctuations in the Near-Sun Region from 0.1-0.3 au Observed by Parker Solar Probe

  • Honghong Wu*
  • , Chuanyi Tu
  • , Xin Wang
  • , Liping Yang
  • *Corresponding author for this work
  • Peking University
  • CAS - National Space Science Center

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The fluctuations observed in the slow solar wind at 1 au by the WIND spacecraft are shown by recent studies to consist of mainly magnetic-field directional turning and magnetic-velocity alignment structure (MVAS). How these structures are created has been a question because the nature of the fluctuations in the near-Sun region remains unknown. Here, we present an analysis of the measurements in the slow solar wind from 0.1-0.3 au by Parker Solar Probe during its first six orbits. We present the distributions in the C vb ′ - σ r plane of both the occurrence and average amplitudes of the fluctuations, including the magnetic field, the velocity, and the Els sser variables, where C vb ′ is the correlation coefficient between the magnetic and velocity fluctuations multiplied by the opposite sign of the radial component of the mean magnetic field and σ r is the normalized residual energy. We find that the dominant composition is the outward-propagating Alfvénic fluctuations. We find Alfvénic fluctuations with C vb ′ > 0.95, in which the amplitudes of z + reach 60 km s-1 and those of z - are close to the observational uncertainty. We also find a region with high C vb ′ and moderate minus σ r in which the fluctuations are considered MVAS being magnetic dominated with the amplitude of magnetic fluctuations reaching 60 km s-1. We provide empirical relations between the velocity fluctuation amplitude and C vb ′. The comparison between these results and those observed at 1 au may provide some clues as to the nature and evolution of the fluctuations.

Original languageEnglish
Article number92
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume922
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2021

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