Periodicities in the Solar Wind Tenative CSI 763 Research Project Christina Henderson

Outline ● Discuss solar wind and solar rotation ● Parker spiral, differential rotation rates ● Examine Ulysses spacecraft and data ● Attempt to reproduce analysis from Roberts and Goldstein paper ● Additional topics

The Parker Spiral Image Credit: J. Luhmann

Differential Rotation Image Credit: SOHO's SOI/MDI

Theoretical Heliospheric Current Sheet Image credit: NASA artist Werner "Gredoč" Heil

The Ulysses Spacecraft ● Purpose: study heliosphere as a function of latitude ● Achievements: ● Jupiter encounter: June 8, 1992 ● High Northern latitudes June through September 1995 (solar minimum) ● High Southern latitudes September through December 2001 (solar max.) ● Measures: magnetic field, particle density, plasma velocity, cosmic rays, X-rays/gamma rays, radio waves, plasma waves, dust

Trajectory

“Evidence for high-latitude origin of lower latitude high-speed wind” - Roberts & Goldstein (NASA GSFC) performed statistical analyses on Ulysses density, velocity, and magnetic field data - Data analysis exhibited harmonics of fundamental frequencies at 26 and 34 day periods - Found that wind seen within 30° of the solar magnetic equator actually comes from greater than 60°, confirming previous current sheet configuration

Time series

Time series – 1993

Things to consider - more data, less data? - pre-whitening? - linear interpolation suitable for gaps? - error bars actually significant? - F-test?

Additional Topics ● Geomagnetic effects on airline fares ● SWx big concern for airlines ● Millions lost in rerouting of polar flights ● Who pays for this? Likely the consumer ● Need to build a data set - web-scraping ● Geomagnetivity and rate of heart attacks