Abstract

Voyager 1 and 2 observed very different boundary layers adjacent to their respective heliopause crossings. Voyager 1 observed a very thick boundary layer in the inner heliosheath while Voyager 2 observed a very thin boundary layer. Voyager 2 observed a thick magnetic barrier with enhanced total magnetic field in the inner heliosheath while Voyager 1 did not observe a similar barrier. Predicted and observed plasma properties in the inner and outer heliosheath and the magnetic shear at the heliopause crossings are used to investigate the possibility of local reconnection at the heliopause crossings. For the Voyager 1 crossing, local reconnection is suppressed. However, for the Voyager 2 crossing, the magnetic barrier reduced plasma beta in the inner heliosheath and may have facilitated local magnetic reconnection at the heliopause.

Details

Title
Reconnection at the Heliopause: Comparing the Voyager 1 and 2 Heliopause Crossings
Author
Fuselier, Stephen A 1 ; Petrinec, Steven M 2 ; Bobra, Monica G 3 ; Cairns, Iver H 4 

 Space Science and Engineering Division, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78228, USA; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA 
 Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center, Palo Alto, CA 94xxx, USA 
 W.W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA 
 School of Physics, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia 
Publication year
2020
Publication date
Sep 2020
Publisher
IOP Publishing
ISSN
17426588
e-ISSN
17426596
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2570869884
Copyright
© 2020. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.