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Relating the Variability of the Middle Corona to the Structure of the Slow Solar Wind

Presentation #229.05 in the session “Solar Physics Division (SPD): Eclipses and Solar Wind”.

Published onJun 18, 2021
Relating the Variability of the Middle Corona to the Structure of the Slow Solar Wind

The recent revolution in heliospheric measurements, brought about by NASA’s Parker Solar Probe and ESA’s Solar Orbiter, has shown that processes in the middle corona can influence the structure and dynamics of the solar wind across spatial scales. Understanding the formation of the young solar wind structures currently being measured by Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter is now essential. Numerical calculations have shown that magnetic field dynamics at coronal hole boundaries in the middle corona, in particular interchange reconnection driven by photospheric motions, can be responsible for the dynamic release of structured slow solar wind, including along huge separatrix-web (S-Web) arcs formed by pseudostreamers. Quantifying the plasma and magnetic variability along these S-Web arcs is crucial to furthering our understanding of how coronal magnetic field dynamics can influence the slow solar wind throughout the heliosphere. Here we present fully dynamic, 3D numerical calculations of a coronal hole boundary driven continuously by realistic photospheric motions at its base. We consider our simulation results within the context of Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter, and make predictions for the structure and variability of the young slow solar wind.

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