Bonn 2020 – scientific programme

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EP: Fachverband Extraterrestrische Physik

EP 5: Sun and Heliosphere III

EP 5.3: Talk

Wednesday, April 1, 2020, 14:45–15:00, H-HS VIII

The relevance of suprathermal particles for the pressure equilibrium in the heliosheath — •Hans Jörg Fahr — Argelander Institut für Astronomie, Universität Bonn

We are studying solar wind electrons and protons in the heliosheath, after passage over the solar wind termination shock. Due to the electric nature of this shock, downstream electrons become highly energized with non-equilibrium distribution functions. The moments of these functions show that the electron pressure is higher than the proton pressures. Even when pressure contributions from superluminal particles are removed it turns out that electron and proton pressures are of the same order of magnitude. When this is taken into account, it is revealed that there is no pressure deficit in the heliosheath with respect to the ram pressure of the surrounding LISM plasma as recently claimed by Rankin et al.(2019).