Sensitivity of the helioglow to variation of the total ionization rate and solar Lyman-alpha emission

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Kowalska-Leszczynska, Izabela, Kubiak, Marzena A., Bzowski, Maciej, Strumik, Marek
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866910328645746688
author Kowalska-Leszczynska, Izabela
Kubiak, Marzena A.
Bzowski, Maciej
Strumik, Marek
author_facet Kowalska-Leszczynska, Izabela
Kubiak, Marzena A.
Bzowski, Maciej
Strumik, Marek
contents Direct observations of solar wind are mostly limited to the vicinity of the ecliptic plane. Retrieving the latitudinal structure of solar wind indirectly based on observations of the backscatter glow of interstellar neutral hydrogen is complex and requires support from theoretical models. The GLOWS instrument, to operate on the planned IMAP mission, will scan the helioglow along circumsolar rings with an angular distance of ~75 degrees. Its objective is to retrieve the latitudinal structure of the ionization rate of interstellar hydrogen and with this, the structure of the solar wind. In preparation for future analysis, we studied the sensitivity of the light curves to temporal and latitudinal variation of the ionization rate of interstellar hydrogen and the solar Lyman-alpha illumination. Based on carefully planned numerical experiments, we analyze the time delay and relaxation time of the system for variations of the ionization rate and solar illumination in heliolatitude and with time. We found that variations in the solar illumination are reflected in the helioglow without delay, but relaxation takes longer than the variation rise time. By contrast, variations in the ionization rate are anti-correlated with the helioglow brightness with a delay of several months. We also found that the helioglow is not sensitive to variations in the ionization rate at the solar poles, so retrieving the ionization rate and solar wind at the poles requires an approximation of the ionization rate profiles with appropriate parametric functions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2402_08043
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Sensitivity of the helioglow to variation of the total ionization rate and solar Lyman-alpha emission
Kowalska-Leszczynska, Izabela
Kubiak, Marzena A.
Bzowski, Maciej
Strumik, Marek
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Space Physics
Direct observations of solar wind are mostly limited to the vicinity of the ecliptic plane. Retrieving the latitudinal structure of solar wind indirectly based on observations of the backscatter glow of interstellar neutral hydrogen is complex and requires support from theoretical models. The GLOWS instrument, to operate on the planned IMAP mission, will scan the helioglow along circumsolar rings with an angular distance of ~75 degrees. Its objective is to retrieve the latitudinal structure of the ionization rate of interstellar hydrogen and with this, the structure of the solar wind. In preparation for future analysis, we studied the sensitivity of the light curves to temporal and latitudinal variation of the ionization rate of interstellar hydrogen and the solar Lyman-alpha illumination. Based on carefully planned numerical experiments, we analyze the time delay and relaxation time of the system for variations of the ionization rate and solar illumination in heliolatitude and with time. We found that variations in the solar illumination are reflected in the helioglow without delay, but relaxation takes longer than the variation rise time. By contrast, variations in the ionization rate are anti-correlated with the helioglow brightness with a delay of several months. We also found that the helioglow is not sensitive to variations in the ionization rate at the solar poles, so retrieving the ionization rate and solar wind at the poles requires an approximation of the ionization rate profiles with appropriate parametric functions.
title Sensitivity of the helioglow to variation of the total ionization rate and solar Lyman-alpha emission
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Space Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.08043