Solar Wind Helium Abundance Heralds Solar Cycle Onset

Autor: Justin C. Kasper, Benjamin L. Alterman, Robert J. Leamon, Scott W. McIntosh
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Abundance (chemistry)
High Energy Physics::Lattice
chemistry.chemical_element
Flux
FOS: Physical sciences
Context (language use)
Astrophysics
01 natural sciences
7. Clean energy
Physics - Space Physics
0103 physical sciences
Astrophysics::Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
010303 astronomy & astrophysics
Helium
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Condensed Matter::Quantum Gases
Physics
Photosphere
Order (ring theory)
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Physics - Plasma Physics
Space Physics (physics.space-ph)
Solar cycle
Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph)
Solar wind
Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
chemistry
13. Climate action
Space and Planetary Science
Physics::Space Physics
Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2006.04669
Popis: We study the solar wind helium-to-hydrogen abundance's ($A_\mathrm{He}$) relationship to solar cycle onset. Using OMNI/Lo data, we show that $A_\mathrm{He}$ increases prior to sunspot number (SSN) minima. We also identify a rapid depletion and recovery in $A_\mathrm{He}$ that occurs directly prior to cycle onset. This $A_\mathrm{He}$ Shutoff happens at approximately the same time across solar wind speeds ($v_\mathrm{sw}$), implying that it is formed by a mechanism distinct from the one that drives $A_\mathrm{He}$'s solar cycle scale variation and $v_\mathrm{sw}$-dependent phase offset with respect to SSN. The time between successive $A_\mathrm{He}$ shutoffs is typically on the order of the corresponding solar cycle length. Using Brightpoint (BP) measurements to provide context, we infer that this shutoff is likely related to the overlap of adjacent solar cycles and the equatorial flux cancelation of the older, extended solar cycle during Solar Minima.
Comment: Accepted in Solar Physics
Databáze: OpenAIRE