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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 35,
L10106,
4 PP., 2008
doi:10.1029/2008GL033793
Characteristic size and shape of the mirror mode structures in the solar wind at 0.72 AU
Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Austria
State Key Laboratory of Space Weather, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Austria
Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
State Key Laboratory of Space Weather, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
State Key Laboratory of Space Weather, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Institute of Geophysics, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacan, Mexico D.F., Mexico
Institut für Geophysik und Extraterrestrische Physik, Technical University Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Austria
Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Austria
Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Austria
Institute for Astro- and Particle Physics, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
We investigate the structure of mirror modes in the solar wind at 0.72 AU using Venus Express magnetic field measurements. The mirror mode structure is identified as the presence of magnetic depression or magnetic “holes” in the solar wind with little or no directional change across them. We determine the characteristic size and shape of these structures by examining their durations as a function of the orientation of the magnetic field to the solar wind flow. The mirror mode structure is best fitted with an ellipsoid of revolution, and the resultant shape of the mirror mode structure is a prolate spheroid, or in other words, a rotational ellipsoid. We introduce two parameters, namely the width across the field and the eccentricity to give a full description of the size and shape of the structures. We find that the mirror mode structures in the solar wind are two-dimensional and are more elongated along the magnetic field direction.
Received 27 February 2008; accepted 24 April 2008; published 29 May 2008.
Citation: (2008), Characteristic size and shape of the mirror mode structures in the solar wind at 0.72 AU, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L10106, doi:10.1029/2008GL033793.
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