Observation of Bernstein Waves Excited by Newborn Interstellar Pickup Ions in the Solar Wind

Isenberg, Philip A. ; Murphy, Neil ; Burlaga, Leonard F. ; Gray, Perry C. ; Joyce, Colin J. ; Gary, S. Peter ; Smith, Charles W.

PID  :  NTRS Document ID: 20140007411
RP-ID  :  GSFC-E-DAA-TN9970

学科分类：天文学(综合)

美国|英语

来源: NASA Technical Reports Server

【 摘 要 】

A recent examination of 1.9 s magnetic field data recorded by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in transit to Jupiter revealed several instances of strongly aliased spectra suggestive of unresolved high-frequency magnetic fluctuations at 4.4 AU. A closer examination of these intervals using the highest resolution data available revealed one clear instance of wave activity at spacecraft frame frequencies from 0.2 to 1 Hz. Using various analysis techniques, we have characterized these fluctuations as Bernstein mode waves excited by newborn interstellar pickup ions. We can find no other interpretation or source consistent with the observations, but this interpretation is not without questions. In this paper, we report a detailed analysis of the waves, including their frequency and polarization, that supports our interpretation.