The Three-Dimensional Nature of Interaction Regions: Pioneer, Voyager, and Ulysses fro 1 to 5 AU: Solar Cycle Variations

Abstract

We investigated diverse aspects of the interaction regions detected by four spacecraft that travelled from Earth to Jupiter at different phases of the solar cycle: Pioneer 11 (declining phase of cycle 20); voyagers 1 and 2 (ascending phase of cycle 21); and Ulysses (just after solar maximum 22). From the analysis of 38 stream interfaces we found that the interaction regions detected by the three missions have different geometries.