Abstract
By ‘interplanetary medium’ we mean the particles and fields that fill the region between Sun, planets and the interstellar medium. The particles here are mainly those of the solar wind and the most prominent field is the interplanetary magnetic field. The present chapter first discusses the properties of the solar wind and its modeling. This is followed by a description of the interplanetary magnetic field and its associated heliospheric current sheet. In this context a system of equations is introduced which enables us to understand the properties of waves in the interplanetary medium. These play an important role in the formation of shock waves, whereby particular interest is directed to the terrestrial bow shock and the modification of the solar wind caused by it. We then turn our attention to the interface between the solar wind and the interstellar medium, another region where shock waves are an integral component. Finally, we provide an introduction to the various populations of highly energetic particles present in interplanetary space.
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References
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© 2004 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Prölss, G.W. (2004). Interplanetary Medium. In: Physics of the Earth’s Space Environment. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-97123-5_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-97123-5_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-05979-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-97123-5
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