Speaker
Description
First Name: Alexis
Last Name: Rouillard
Email Address: arouillard@irap.omp.eu
Affiliation: IRAP CNRS FR & AIP DE
All Authors: Alexis P. Rouillard
Abstract: The solar wind extension of solar helmet streamers are the heliospheric current sheet and its plasma sheet. We will review recent research on the structure and dynamics of helmet streamers exploiting the detailed imaging taken by the fleet of spacecraft currently observing the solar atmosphere. Imaging of the large-scale dynamics of helmet streamers and their rays will be compared with local in situ measurements of the plasma sheet in the outer corona and in the solar wind. This will provide new insights on the physical processes operating continually to sustain these dynamical structures. We will discuss the broader implications of these findings for the evolution of the solar magnetic field and the acceleration of particules to high energy.