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Solar wind thermal electrons in the ecliptic plane between 1 and 4 AU: Preliminary results from the Ulysses radio receiver
Author(s) -
Hoang S.,
MeyerVernet N.,
Bougeret J.L.,
Harvey C. C.,
Lacombe C.,
Mangeney A.,
Moncuquet M.,
Perche C.,
Steinberg J.L.,
MacDowall R. J.,
Stone R. G.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/92gl00784
Subject(s) - ecliptic , physics , solar wind , plasma , astronomy , astrophysics , electron temperature , computational physics , quantum mechanics
The radio receiver of the Unified Radio and Plasma (URAP) experiment aboard the Ulysses spacecraft records spectra of the quasi‐thermal plasma noise. The interpretation of these spectra allows the determination of the total electron density Ne and of the cold (core) electron temperature Tc in the solar wind. A single power law does not fit the variations of Ne which result from the contribution from different solar wind structures. The distribution of the values of Tc suggests that, on the average, the solar wind is nearly isothermal.