Slow Solar Wind: Origin in an Independent Small‐Scale Solar Dynamo
Abstract Separation of the solar wind (SW) into three flow types (coronal mass ejections (CMEs), high speed streams (HSSs), and slow solar wind (SSW)) reveals an inverse relationship between the percentage of time Earth spends in SSW during a year and its annually averaged magnetic field strength (B...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113791 |
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| author | E. W. Cliver I. G. Richardson S. F. Martin |
| author_facet | E. W. Cliver I. G. Richardson S. F. Martin |
| author_sort | E. W. Cliver |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Separation of the solar wind (SW) into three flow types (coronal mass ejections (CMEs), high speed streams (HSSs), and slow solar wind (SSW)) reveals an inverse relationship between the percentage of time Earth spends in SSW during a year and its annually averaged magnetic field strength (B). This relationship maintains a quasi‐constant floor of ∼2.8 nT in SW B carried to the heliosphere by the SSW during the last ∼60 years, in contrast to the contributions of CMEs and HSSs to SW B that exhibit the 11‐year variation of the large‐scale (LS) dynamo. We propose the SSW is not a by‐product of the LS‐dynamo, as currently thought, but rather results from a small‐scale dynamo that continually replenishes intranetwork flux that undergoes flux cancellation reconnection, to supply a fixed amount of open flux to the heliosphere. Of the three SW flow types, only SSW appears to be spatially/temporally ubiquitous. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-47fcd53146d847ffba1e16a707bf646a |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-47fcd53146d847ffba1e16a707bf646a2025-08-20T02:56:24ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072025-07-015213n/an/a10.1029/2024GL113791Slow Solar Wind: Origin in an Independent Small‐Scale Solar DynamoE. W. Cliver0I. G. Richardson1S. F. Martin2National Solar Observatory Boulder CO USADepartment of Astronomy University of Maryland College Park MD USAHelio Research Glendale CA USAAbstract Separation of the solar wind (SW) into three flow types (coronal mass ejections (CMEs), high speed streams (HSSs), and slow solar wind (SSW)) reveals an inverse relationship between the percentage of time Earth spends in SSW during a year and its annually averaged magnetic field strength (B). This relationship maintains a quasi‐constant floor of ∼2.8 nT in SW B carried to the heliosphere by the SSW during the last ∼60 years, in contrast to the contributions of CMEs and HSSs to SW B that exhibit the 11‐year variation of the large‐scale (LS) dynamo. We propose the SSW is not a by‐product of the LS‐dynamo, as currently thought, but rather results from a small‐scale dynamo that continually replenishes intranetwork flux that undergoes flux cancellation reconnection, to supply a fixed amount of open flux to the heliosphere. Of the three SW flow types, only SSW appears to be spatially/temporally ubiquitous.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113791Sunsolar dynamosolar windmagnetic reconnection |
| spellingShingle | E. W. Cliver I. G. Richardson S. F. Martin Slow Solar Wind: Origin in an Independent Small‐Scale Solar Dynamo Geophysical Research Letters Sun solar dynamo solar wind magnetic reconnection |
| title | Slow Solar Wind: Origin in an Independent Small‐Scale Solar Dynamo |
| title_full | Slow Solar Wind: Origin in an Independent Small‐Scale Solar Dynamo |
| title_fullStr | Slow Solar Wind: Origin in an Independent Small‐Scale Solar Dynamo |
| title_full_unstemmed | Slow Solar Wind: Origin in an Independent Small‐Scale Solar Dynamo |
| title_short | Slow Solar Wind: Origin in an Independent Small‐Scale Solar Dynamo |
| title_sort | slow solar wind origin in an independent small scale solar dynamo |
| topic | Sun solar dynamo solar wind magnetic reconnection |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL113791 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ewcliver slowsolarwindorigininanindependentsmallscalesolardynamo AT igrichardson slowsolarwindorigininanindependentsmallscalesolardynamo AT sfmartin slowsolarwindorigininanindependentsmallscalesolardynamo |