1. Kinetic temperature ratios of O6+and He2+: Observations from Wind/MASS and Ulysses/SWICS
- Author
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George Gloeckler, R. von Steiger, R. B. Sheldon, C. M. S. Cohen, Michael R. Collier, B. Wilken, and D. C. Hamilton
- Subjects
Physics ,Solar wind ,Geophysics ,Mean kinetic temperature ,Helium ions ,Physics::Space Physics ,Thermal ,Oxygen ions ,Astrophysics::Solar and Stellar Astrophysics ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,Atomic physics ,Kinetic energy ,Computational physics - Abstract
We present results from a two spacecraft study of the ratio of O 6+ and He 2+ kinetic temperatures as a function of solar wind speed. Data from the Wind/MASS and Ulysses/SWICS instruments both indicate the O 6+ /He 2+ kinetic temperature ratio increases with increasing solar wind speed, peaking near 500 km/s. Above 500 km/s, the ratio appears to decrease slightly. Values near unity were obtained for slow solar wind while fast wind yielded ratios substantially higher than what is expected from the general rule T i /T j ≃M i /M j . (1) Although averaging over all data would result in the nominal ratio of 4, deviations from equation (1) appear to be common and the assumption of equal thermal velocities should not be made a priori.
- Published
- 1996
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