Dispersion of Solar Wind Throughout the Heliosphere

Pemy Fleuker
Undergraduate Research Symposium, Haskell Indian Nations University, Lawrence, KS
April 24, 2007
Mentor:  Thomas P. Armstrong

Used with permission.

Overview

Satellites positioned at varying distances from the sun allow for tracking the flow of energy emitted during particularly large solar events. Such events are quite detectable from spacecraft orbiting relatively close to the Earth. However, as the distance from our sun increases so does the dispersion of the particles, making it difficult to determine which (if any) event is the cause for a detectable flux in particle count. There is also the issue of instrument reliability for crafts that have been in space for an extended period of time (Voyager I and Voyager II, for instance).

Intention of This Study

To gain a better understanding of the dispersion of charged particles as they near the known limits of the heliosphere.

Conclusion

Having used an average of solar wind speed (1 AU/4 days - constant), my expected arrival date is off by a a week or less. This is due in part to the extremely high speed at which this event was traveling when it left the sun, which hasn’t been factored into the actual data yet.

More about the 2007 Undergraduate Research Symposium at Haskell Indian Nations University

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Updated 7/31/07, T. Hunt-Ward
tizby@ftecs.com