To evaluate the isotopic composition of the solar nebula from which the planets formed, the relation between isotopes measured in the solar wind and on the Sun's surface needs to be known. The Genesis Discovery mission returned independent samples of three types of solar wind produced by different solar processes that provide a check on possible isotopic variations, or fractionation, between th...

The solar and wind power generation is stochastic in nature. Consequently, it is difficult to obtain steady power output from these renewable sources. Storage element (mainly battery) used in typical solar/wind hybrid system has also its inherent shortcomings. However, power generation from renewable energy sources like solar and wind is having paramount significance in the context of impending...

A theory for the origin of the slow solar wind is described. Recent papers have demonstrated that magnetic flux moves across coronal holes as a result of the interplay between the differential rotation of the photosphere and the non-radial expansion of the solar wind in more rigidly rotating coronal holes. This flux will be deposited at low latitudes and should reconnect with closed magnetic lo...

A&G • February 2013 • Vol. 54 1.25 The continuous flow of matter that escapes out of the solar gravitational well is known as the solar wind. As the material flows out of the Sun, it is accelerated to between 400 and 800 km s. Through this continuous flow of material, the Sun loses more than one million tonnes every second. But this is just a tiny fraction, corresponding to 2 × 10 of a solar ma...

[1] We investigate the characteristics and solar origins of a subpopulation of the solar wind that possesses extreme values of proton flux. Ulysses observations including solar wind magnetic flux, proton flux, number density and velocity, and ionic composition are examined in this study. We find that the departures of solar wind proton flux from its constancy occur for time intervals leading up...

As a weakly magnetized planet, Mars ionosphere/atmosphere interacts directly with the shocked solar wind plasma flow. Even though many numerical studies have been successful in reproducing numerous features of the interaction process, these earlier studies focused mainly on interaction under steady solar wind conditions. Recent observations suggest that plasma escape fluxes are significantly en...

[1] To determine the efficacy of turbulence in the solar wind, the amount of mixing of the solar wind plasma is quantified. If magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in the solar wind acts as does Navier-Stokes turbulence, the chunk mixture of scalar quantities in the solar wind plasma should evolve with time. In particular, (1) the sizes of plasma chunks should decrease with distance from the Sun owin...

Using data obtained between 1991 and 1996 with the SWICS instrument (Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer) aboard the Ulysses spacecraft, a long time average of the (4He/3He) isotopic ratio of 2450 ± 460 in coronal hole dominated solar wind is derived. To assess the influence of inefficient Coulomb friction in the inner corona and to infer the solar photospheric abundance ratio from the sola...

A&G • February 2013 • Vol. 54 1.25 The continuous flow of matter that escapes out of the solar gravitational well is known as the solar wind. As the material flows out of the Sun, it is accelerated to between 400 and 800 km s. Through this continuous flow of material, the Sun loses more than one million tonnes every second. But this is just a tiny fraction, corresponding to 2 × 10 of a solar ma...