Full-Sun observations for identifying the source of the slow solar wind

TL;DR

This study uses full-disk observations and magnetic modeling to identify potential origins of the Sun's slow solar wind, revealing that multiple source regions contribute significantly to the solar wind's mass loss.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive full-Sun mapping method combining velocity, plasma composition, and magnetic topology to locate slow solar wind sources.

Findings

Identified multiple source regions for slow solar wind.

The sources' combined mass contribution explains a significant part of the solar wind's mass loss.

Full-disk observations effectively map solar wind origins.

Abstract

Fast (>700 km/s) and slow (~400 km/s) winds stream from the Sun, permeate the heliosphere and influence the near-Earth environment. While the fast wind is known to emanate primarily from polar coronal holes, the source of the slow wind remains unknown. Here we identify possible sites of origin using a slow solar wind source map of the entire Sun, which we construct from specially designed, full- disk observations from the Hinode satellite, and a magnetic field model. Our map provides a full-Sun observation that combines three key ingredients for identifying the sources: velocity, plasma composition and magnetic topology and shows them as solar wind composition plasma outflowing on open magnetic field lines. The area coverage of the identified sources is large enough that the sum of their mass contributions can explain a significant fraction of the mass loss rate of the solar wind.