The Geometrical Structure and Physics of Coronal Mass Ejections

太阳扰动对日冕、太阳风、行星际介质以及地球及其磁层产生重大影响。研究内日光层等离子体扰动的新技术已经开发出来。这笔赠款将利用HELIOS黄道光测光仪和各种其他日冕仪器的数据，继续对这些扰动的物理学进行研究。这些黄道光测光仪(从1974年到1986年的数据覆盖范围)提供了关于这些扰动的日球层形状的第一个立体信息。基础研究工作包括解释和匹配观测数据的建模技术。HELIOS成像结合其他观测提供了一个独特的机会来确定日冕物质抛射速度、流光物质速度、三维结构和行星际介质中的总质量。这可以用更少的假设和比以前更高的精度来完成。除了物质抛射，到达行星际介质的太阳扰动还包括日冕流光、就地测量的激波和共同旋转的界面区域。使用HELIOS航天器上的黄道光测光仪可以观察到这些特征，这项研究将与近地表太阳结构和日光层电流片有关。

Solar disturbances produce major effects on the corona, the solar wind, the interplanetary medium, and the Earth along with its magnetosphere. New techniques have been developed for studying plasma disturbances in the inner heliosphere. This grant will continue an investigation of the physics of these disturbances, using data from the HELIOS zodiacal-light photometers and a variety of other coronal instruments. These zodiacal-light photometers (data coverage from 1974 to 1986) provide the first stereoscopic information about the heliospheric shapes of these disturbances. The basic research effort includes modeling techniques to interpret and match the observational data. The HELIOS imaging combined with other observations provides a unique opportunity to determine coronal mass-ejection velocities, streamer material velocities, 3-dimensional structures, and total masses in the interplanetary medium. This can be done with fewer assumptions and to greater accuracies than heretofore possible. Beside mass ejections, solar disturbances which reach the interplanetary medium also include coronal streamers, shocks measured in situ and co-rotating interface regions. It has been possible to view these features with the zodiacal-light photometers on board the HELIOS spacecraft and this study will relate near-surface solar structures and the heliospheric current sheet.