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Session 101 - SOHO.
Invited session, Friday, January 09
International Ballroom Center,
Despite the complex interaction between magnetic fields and plasma, the solar wind manages to escape into interplanetary space in two remarkably well-defined states: the fast wind exceeding 700 km/s and the slow wind coasting at 300 - 400 km/s. These two states are also distinguished by their ion composition and temporal variability. An unprecedented view of the solar wind phenomenon is emerging from in situ and remote sensing observations. Local properties of the solar wind plasma characteristics spanning the heliosphere beyond Earth's orbit continue to be measured by Ulysses, while the source and acceleration regions of the solar wind are being probed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Diagnostic tools made possible with the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) on SOHO are providing the most direct witness of the physical processes defining the solar wind. This review highlights the most outstanding facts and puzzles pertaining to the physical characteristics and origin of the fast and slow solar wind to emerge from the complement of in situ and remote sensing observations.
