Ulysses solar wind plasma observations at high southerly latitudes.

Solar wind plasma observations made by the Ulysses spacecraft through -80.2 degrees solar latitude and continuing equatorward to -40.1 degrees are summarized. Recurrent high-speed streams and corotating interaction regions dominated at middle latitudes. The speed of the solar wind was typically 700 to 800 kilometers per second poleward of -35 degrees . Corotating reverse shocks persisted farther south than did forward shocks because of the tilt of the heliomagnetic streamer belt. Sporadic coronal mass ejections were seen as far south as -60.5 degrees . Proton temperature was higher and the electron strahl was broader at higher latitudes. The high-latitude wind contained compressional, pressure-balanced, and Alfvénic structures.

Jupiter's Magnetosphere: Plasma Description from the Ulysses Flyby.

Plasma observations at Jupiter show that the outer regions of the Jovian magnetosphere are remarkably similar to those of Earth. Bow-shock precursor electrons and ions were detected in the upstream solar wind, as at Earth. Plasma changes across the bow shock and properties of the magnetosheath electrons were much like those at Earth, indicating that similar processes are operating. A boundary layer populated by a varying mixture of solar wind and magnetospheric plasmas was found inside the magnetopause, again as at Earth. In the middle magnetosphere, large electron density excursions were detected with a 10-hour periodicity as planetary rotation carried the tilted plasma sheet past Ulysses. Deep in the magnetosphere, Ulysses crossed a region, tentatively described as magnetically connected to the Jovian polar cap on one end and to the interplanetary magnetic field on the other. In the inner magnetosphere and lo torus, where corotation plays a dominant role, measurements could not be made because of extreme background rates from penetrating radiation belt particles.

Observations at venus encounter by the plasma science experiment on mariner 10.

Preliminary results from the rearward-looking electrostatic analyzer of the plasma science experiment during the Mariner 10 encounter with Venus are described. They show that the solar-wind interaction with the planet probably involves a bow shock rather than an extended exosphere, but that this is not a thin boundary at the point where it was crossed by Mariner 10. An observed reduction in the flux of electrons with energies greater than 100 electron volts is interpreted as evidence for somne direct interaction with the exosphere. Unusual intermittent features observed downstream of the planet indicate the presence of a comet-like tail hundreds of scale lengths in length.

Observations at mercury encounter by the plasma science experiment on mariner 10.

A fully developed bow shock and magnetosheath were observed near Mercury, providing unambiguous evidence for a strong interaction between Mercury and the solar wind. Inside the sheath there is a distinct region analogous to the magnetosphere or magnetotail of Earth, populated by electrons with lower density and higher temperature than the electrons observed in the solar wind or magnetosheath. At the time of encounter, conditions were such that a perpendicular shock was observed on the inbound leg and a parallel shock was observed on the outbound leg of the trajectory, and energetic plasma electron events were detected upstream from the outbound shock crossing. The interaction is most likely not atmospheric, but the data clearly indicate that the obstacle to solar wind flow is magnetic, either intrinsic or induced. The particle fluxes and energy spectra showed large variations while the spacecraft was inside the magnetosphere, and these variations could be either spatial or temporal.

Comet giacobini-zinner: plasma description.

A strong interaction between the solar wind and comet Giacobini-Zinner was observed oh 11 September 1985 with the Los Alamos plasma electron experiment on the International Cometary Explorer (ICE) spacecraft. As ICE approached an intercept point 7800 kilometers behind the nucleus from the south and receded to the north, upstream phenomena due to the comet were observed. Periods of enhanced electron heat flux from the comet as well as almost continuous electron density fluctuations were measured. These effects are related to the strong electron heating observed in the cometary interaction region and to cometary ion pickup by the solar wind, respectively. No evidence for a conventional bow shock was found as ICE entered and exited the regions of strongest interaction of the solar wind with the cometary environment. The outer extent of this strong interaction zone was a transition region in which the solar wind plasma was heated, compressed, and slowed. Inside the inner boundary of the transition region was a sheath that enclosed a cold intermediate coma. In the transition region and sheath, small-scale enhancements in density were observed. These density spikes may be due to an instability associated with cometary ion pickup or to the passage of ICE through cometary ray structures. In the center of the cold intermediate coma a narrow, high-density core of plasma, presumably the developing plasma tail was found. In some ways this tail can be compared to the plasma sheet in Earth's magnetotail and to the current sheet in the tail at Venus. This type of configuration is expected in the double-lobe magnetic topology detected at the comet, possibly caused by the theoretically expected draping of the interplanetary magnetic field around its ionosphere.

Effects of a long entrance aperture upon the azimuthal response of spherical section electrostatic analyzers.

The transmission characteristics of spherical section electrostatic analyzers with long entrance apertures have been studied. The presence of a long entrance aperture appreciably broadens the normally narrow azimuthal response of such analyzers at large incident polar angles. A technique for calculating the transmission at any polar angle is presented. Calculated azimuthal response curves at polar angles of 0 degrees , 25 degrees , and 50 degrees agree well with laboratory measurements for a 90 degrees section analyzer. In the limit of zero polar angle, our calculations reveal that a previously derived and widely used analytical expression for the integrated energy-angle response underestimates that response by 12%-25% depending upon the analyzer bending angle. An analytical expression that better approximates the true response is presented.

Linear electric field mass analysis: a technique for three-dimensional high mass resolution space plasma composition measurements.

A revolutionary type of three-dimensional space plasma composition analyzer has been developed that combines very high-resolution mass composition measurements on a fraction of the incident ions simultaneously with lower mass resolution but high sensitivity measurements of the remaining population in a single compact and robust sensor design. Whereas the lower mass resolution measurements are achieved using conventional energy/charge (E/q) and linear time-of-flight analysis, the high mass resolution measurements are made by timing reflected E/q analyzed ions in a linear electric field (LEF). In a LEF the restoring (reflecting) force that an ion experiences in the direction parallel to the field is proportional to the depth it travels into the LEF region, and its equation of motion in that direction is that of a simple harmonic oscillator. Consequently, an ion's travel time is independent of its initial angle and energy and is simply proportional to the square root of the ion's mass/charge (m/q). The measured m/q resolution, (m/q)/Delta(m/q), for a small LEF-based prototype that we have developed and tested is approximately 20. In addition, our laboratory measurements with the prototype instrument show that characteristic time-of-flight spectra allow the resolution of atomic and molecular species with nearly identical m/q values. The measured response of the prototype is in excellent agreement with computer simulations of the device. Advanced design work using this computer simulation indicates that three-dimensional plasma composition analyzers with m/q resolutions of at least 50 are readily achievable.