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Potential flow downstream of the heliospheric terminal shock: A non‐spherical shock

1995; American Geophysical Union; Volume: 22; Issue: 13 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1029/95gl01658

1944-8007

Steven Nerney, S. T. Suess,

Magnetic confinement fusion research

We have solved for the potential flow down‐stream of the terminal shock of the solar wind in the limit of small departures from a spherical shock due to a latitudinal ram pressure variation in the supersonic solar wind. The solution connects anisotropic streamlines at the shock to uniform streamlines down the heliotail because we use a non‐slip boundary condition on the heliopause at large radii. The rotational velocity about the heliotail in the near‐field solution decays as the fourth power of distance from the shock. The polar divergence of the streamlines will have consequences for the previously discussed magnetic pressure ridge that may build‐up just inside the heliopause.