Results of experiments for the detection of lunar ionosphere carried out on the first moon's artificial satellite /Luna-10/

Lunik X experiments to detect lunar ionospher

Noble gases from the interstellar medium trapped on the MIR space station and analyzed by in vacuo etching

Introduction: The composition of the present interstellar medium (ISM) provides an important benchmark in cosmochemistry. It serves as a reference for galactic chemical evolution (GCE) models, solar mixing predictions and provides information for understanding Big Bang nucleosynthesis. The present-day ISM 3He abundance allows, combined with the protosolar 3He, deduced from the Jovian atmosphere or meteorites [1,2], tracing the GCE over the past 4.56 Ga. 3He/4He = (2.5 0.6) x 10-4 has been determined for the local ISM [3]. However, the uncertainty is too large to better constrain GCE models and - in combination with the present-day solar wind value - the protosolar D/H [4]

Solar wind correlations: Statistical and case studies

Recent work on solar wind plasma correlations using data from several widely-separated spacecraft (IMP 8, INTERBALL-I, WIND, and ISEE-3) has shown that, for 6-hour periods, the average plasma correlation is 0.7. The focus of these studies has been directed toward a statistical understanding of gross solar wind correlation behavior. In all correlations examined, lower average correlations are caused by the presence of many points from the low correlation subpopulation; nevertheless, data points from the high correlation population are still present. No single organizational factor has yet been found which adequately separates low-correlation periods from high-correlation periods. Some of the spread in correlations is due to the spatial orientations and dimensions of solar wind structures, and thus to the locatiohal alignments of the spacecraft being correlated, but this does not adequately explain all the good or poor correlations since sometimes three nearby spacecraft show poor correlations, while sometimes three widely-separated spacecraft show good correlations. Thus, in order to understand the underlying physics, detailed investigation of individual cases has been undertaken. These results will be important in assigning quality measures to space weather predictions using satellite measurements taken at L1, for example

Correlation Dependencesdetermined By Simultaneous

Solar wind measurements on board several spacecraft were used to study the two-points correlations of the solar wind plasma structures. The factors having the most influence on the correlation level are the density variability and IMF cone angle. The characteristic length of large solar wind structures is estimated at 500--1000 R E

A Survey of large, rapid solar wind dynamic pressure changes observed by Interball-1 and IMP 8

Abstract. The high time-resolution solar wind ion flux measurements from Interball-1 and IMP 8 show about one hundred large, rapid dynamic the pressure changes each year. We cataloged these events by the size and transition time of the pressure changes and present a statistical survey of these events. We find that the majority of the pressure changes of more than 1–2 nPa occur over a very short time period, on the order of a few minutes or less. Most of the large pressure changes not associated with shocks are due solely to density changes with speed remaining constant. We find that pressure balance between the thermal and magnetic pressures is not maintained across most of these events, so these events are still evolving. Key words. Interplanetary physics (solar wind plasma)

Coordinated Wind, Interball/tail, and ground observations of Kelvin-Helmholtz waves at the near-tail, equatorial magnetopause at dusk: January 11, 1997

We analyze ground magnetograms and magnetic field, ion, and electron data from Interball/tail (IT) for the period 0030–0530 UT on January 11, 1997, focusing on waves at the near-tail (∼−13 RE), duskside, equatorial flank, a locale whose physical and wave properties have not been as well studied as those on the dayside. Two major interplanetary features, monitored by Wind, are relevant to this work: The very high and variable dynamic pressure and the strongly northward and generally increasing magnetic field. In this paper, we report, first, on magnetosonic waves in the magnetosheath of frequency ∼0.15 Hz, probably generated by the mirror instability, which are Doppler shifted with respect to similar waves on the dayside. Second, we discuss Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) waves on the magnetopause, of wavelength ∼13–14 RE and frequency ∼3.6 mHz, i.e., in the Pc 5 range. At IT, these waves appear as an envelope modulation of the magnetosonics and are recorded on ground stations at dusk. We argue that the large magnetic shear across the magnetopause and a magnetosheath flow aligned almost normal to the field stabilized the magnetopause locally. Thus these waves were generated on the dayside and propagated to the flank. Third, we examine a low-latitude boundary layer (LLBL), whose tailward stretched field and average antisunward flow were perturbed quasi-periodically. This, together with the particle behavior, suggests a complex billowy structure where hot plasma sheet and cold magnetosheath populations wind around each other while drifting antisunward. A numerical calculation using IT parameters suggests that the inner edge of the LLBL was at this time KH unstable. Fourth, over the 5-hour period the power of the KH oscillations drifts to lower frequencies which we attribute to the progressive decrease in clock angle. Fifth, transients induced by dynamic pressure pulses include a 7.5-min single, free oscillation upon arrival of a fourfold pressure release. Sixth, the long-term effect on the magnetosphere of the increasing northward pointing magnetic field and the stepwise decreasing dynamic pressure is to make the shape of the cavity progressively less blunt. A conclusion of this work is that the equatorial magnetopause can be very oscillatory with various, distinct periodicities even when the interplanetary magnetic field is strongly north. The solar wind dynamic pressure, while responsible for some, cannot explain all of this wave activity