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arXiv · 1302.2179

Entering the "magnetic highway": energetic particle anisotropies at the heliospheric boundary

Vladimir Florinski
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Abstract

In August of 2012 the Voyager 1 space probe entered a distinctly new region of space characterized by a virtual absence of heliospheric energetic charged particles and magnetic fluctuations, dubbed a "magnetic highway". Prior to their disappearance, the particle distributions strongly peaked at a 90$^\circ$ pitch angle implying a faster particle escape along the magnetic field lines. We investigate the process of particle crossing from the heliosheath region into the "magnetic highway" region using a kinetic approach resolving scales of the particle's cyclotron radius and smaller. We show that a "loss-cone" type distribution naturally arises as the orbiting particles enter a region of space with an extremely low pitch-angle scattering rate.

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Vladimir Florinski. 2013-02-08. Entering the "magnetic highway": energetic particle anisotropies at the heliospheric boundary. https://arxiv.org/abs/1302.2179

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