Contributors examine the physics of wind origin and physical phenomena in winds, including heliospheric shocks, magnetohydrodynamic turbulence, and kinetic phenomena--and their interactions with surrounding media. Contributions range from studies of the interstellar cloud surrounding the solar system to solar wind interaction with comets.

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 35. Violent expansions of the solar corona cause transient shock waves which propagate outward from the sun at hundreds to thousands of kilometers per second; simple solar wind velocity gradients at the surface of the sun lead to high-speed streams overtaking slower streams, forming corotating shocks; and steady state supermagnetosonic solar wind flow past objects such as the planets lead to standing bow shocks. However, the solar wind plasma is so hot and tenuous that charged particle Coulomb collisions produce negligible thermalization or dissipation on scale sizes less than 0.1 AU. The irreversible plasma heating by these shocks is accomplished by wave-particle interactions driven by plasma instabilities. Hence these shocks are described as "collisionless."

This is the first volume in the new COSPAR Colloquia series which will provide a forum for an in-depth discussion on selective topics of importance to the international community. The International Heliospheric Study (IHS) was initially approved by COSPAR in 1982 when it was anticipated that the study would centre on the ESA/NASA Ulysses spacecraft. This mission was delayed until October 1990, but it was decided to commence the study in 1986 in order to exploit the existence of the Pioneer 10 and 11 and the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft in the outer heliosphere. The primary purpose of Physics of the Outer Heliosphere is to study the three-dimensional structure of the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field carried by it, the propagation of energetic solar particles throughout the heliosphere and the modulation of galactic cosmic rays by the heliosphere. This volume provides information for scientists interested in spectroscopic studies of the local interstellar medium, galactic and solar cosmic ray populations in the outer heliosphere and also plasma and magnetic field aspects of the distant solar wind.

Energetic particle transport -- Interplanetary shocks -- Diffusive shock acceleration -- Coronal mass ejections -- Corotating interaction regions -- Solar wind -- Stochastic differential equations -- Heliosphere.

The eleventh COSPAR colloquium The Outer Heliosphere: The Next Frontiers was held in Potsdam, Germany, from 24-28 July, 2000, and is the second dedicated to this subject after the first one held in Warsaw, Poland in 1989.Roughly a century has passed after the first ideas by Oliver Lodge, George Francis Fitzgerald and Kristan Birkeland about particle clouds emanating from the Sun and interacting with the Earth environment. Only a few decades after the formulation of the concepts of a continuous solar corpuscular radiation by Ludwig Bierman and a solar wind by Eugene Parker, heliospheric physics has evolved into an important branch of astrophysical research. Numerous spacecraft missions have increased the knowledge about the heliosphere tremendously. Now, at the beginning of a new millenium it seems possible, by newly developed propulasion technologies to send a spacecraft beyond the boundaries of the heliosphere. Such an Interstellar Proce will start the in-situ exploration of interstellar space and, thus, can be considered as the first true astrophysical spacecraft. The year 2000 appeared to be a highly welcome occassion to review the achievements since the last COSPAR Colloquia 11 years ago, to summarize the present developments and to give new impulse for future activities in heliospheric research.

This monograph traces the development of our understanding of how and where energetic particles are accelerated in the heliosphere and how they may reach the Earth. Detailed data sets are presented which address these topics. The bulk of the observations are from spacecraft in or near the ecliptic plane. It is timely to present this subject now that Voyager-1 has entered the true interstellar medium. Since it seems unlikely that there will be a follow-on to the Voyager programme any time soon, the data we already have regarding the outer heliosphere are not going to be enhanced for at least 40 years.

Observations and physical concepts are interwoven to give basic explanations of phenomena and also show the limitations in these explanations and identify some fundamental questions. Compared to conventional plasma physics textbooks this book focuses on the concepts relevant in the large-scale space plasmas. It combines basic concepts with current research and new observations in interplanetary space and in the magnetospheres. Graduate students and young researchers starting to work in this special field of science, will find the numerous references to review articles as well as important original papers helpful to orientate themselves in the literature. Emphasis is on energetic particles and their interaction with the plasma as examples for non-thermal phenomena, shocks and their role in particle acceleration as examples for non-linear phenomena. This second edition has been updated and extended. Improvements include: the use of SI units; addition of recent results from SOHO and Ulysses; improved treatment of the magnetosphere as a dynamic phenomenon; text restructured to provide a closer coupling between basic physical concepts and observed complex phenomena.

Understanding how the Sun changes though its 11-year sunspot cycle and how these changes affect the vast space around the Sun – the heliosphere – has been one of the principal objectives of space research since the advent of the space age. This book presents the evolution of the heliosphere through an entire solar activity cycle. The last solar cycle (cycle 23) has been the best observed from both the Earth and from a fleet of spacecraft. Of these, the joint ESA-NASA Ulysses probe has provided continuous observations of the state of the heliosphere since 1990 from a unique vantage point, that of a nearly polar orbit around the Sun. Ulysses’ results affect our understanding of the heliosphere from the interior of the Sun to the interstellar medium - beyond the outer boundary of the heliosphere. Written by scientists closely associated with the Ulysses mission, the book describes and explains the many different aspects of changes in the heliosphere in response to solar activity. In particular, the authors describe the rise in solar activity from the last minimum in solar activity in 1996 to its maximum in 2000 and the subsequent decline in activity.