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Parker Solar Probe: Four Years of Discoveries at Solar Cycle Minimum
McComas, D. J.; Bale, S. D.; Matteini, L. +55 more
Launched on 12 Aug. 2018, NASA's Parker Solar Probe had completed 13 of its scheduled 24 orbits around the Sun by Nov. 2022. The mission's primary science goal is to determine the structure and dynamics of the Sun's coronal magnetic field, understand how the solar corona and wind are heated and accelerated, and determine what processes accelerate …
HelioSwarm: A Multipoint, Multiscale Mission to Characterize Turbulence
Verscharen, Daniel; Retinò, Alessandro; Alexandrova, Olga +47 more
HelioSwarm (HS) is a NASA Medium-Class Explorer mission of the Heliophysics Division designed to explore the dynamic three-dimensional mechanisms controlling the physics of plasma turbulence, a ubiquitous process occurring in the heliosphere and in plasmas throughout the universe. This will be accomplished by making simultaneous measurements at ni…
Herbig Stars
Waters, L. B. F. M.; Brittain, Sean D.; Kamp, Inga +2 more
Herbig Ae/Be stars are young contracting stars on the radiative track in the HR diagram on their way to the main sequence. These stars provide a valuable link between high and low mass stars. Here we review the progress that has been made in our understanding of these fascinating objects and their disks since the last major review on this topic pu…
Venus Evolution Through Time: Key Science Questions, Selected Mission Concepts and Future Investigations
Korablev, Oleg; Marcq, Emmanuel; Hensley, Scott +42 more
In this work we discuss various selected mission concepts addressing Venus evolution through time. More specifically, we address investigations and payload instrument concepts supporting scientific goals and open questions presented in the companion articles of this volume. Also included are their related investigations (observations & modelin…
Dynamics of Large-Scale Solar Flows
Gizon, Laurent; Noraz, Quentin; Hotta, Hideyuki +2 more
The Sun's axisymmetric large-scale flows, differential rotation and meridional circulation, are thought to be maintained by the influence of rotation on the thermal-convective motions in the solar convection zone. These large-scale flows are crucial for maintaining the Sun's global magnetic field. Over the last several decades, our understanding o…
Particle Acceleration by Magnetic Reconnection in Geospace
Khotyaintsev, Yuri; Drake, James F.; Oka, Mitsuo +7 more
Particles are accelerated to very high, non-thermal energies during explosive energy-release phenomena in space, solar, and astrophysical plasma environments. While it has been established that magnetic reconnection plays an important role in the dynamics of Earth's magnetosphere, it remains unclear how magnetic reconnection can further explain pa…
Extreme Solar Events: Setting up a Paradigm
Notsu, Yuta; Maehara, Hiroyuki; Dalla, Silvia +17 more
The Sun is magnetically active and often produces eruptive events on different energetic and temporal scales. Until recently, the upper limit of such events was unknown and believed to be roughly represented by direct instrumental observations. However, two types of extreme events were discovered recently: extreme solar energetic particle events o…
Future Exploration of the Outer Heliosphere and Very Local Interstellar Medium by Interstellar Probe
Wurz, P.; Krimigis, S. M.; Kurth, W. S. +40 more
A detailed overview of the knowledge gaps in our understanding of the heliospheric interaction with the largely unexplored Very Local Interstellar Medium (VLISM) are provided along with predictions of with the scientific discoveries that await. The new measurements required to make progress in this expanding frontier of space physics are discussed…
Laboratory Study of Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection
Yamada, M.; Burch, J.; Egedal, J. +13 more
A concise review is given on the past two decades' results from laboratory experiments on collisionless magnetic reconnection in direct relation with space measurements, especially by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. Highlights include spatial structures of electromagnetic fields in ion and electron diffusion regions as a function of u…
On the Physical Nature of the so-Called Prominence Tornadoes
Heinzel, Petr; Schmieder, Brigitte; Labrosse, Nicolas +7 more
The term `tornado' has been used in recent years to describe several solar phenomena, from large-scale eruptive prominences to small-scale photospheric vortices. It has also been applied to the generally stable quiescent prominences, sparking a renewed interest in what historically was called `prominence tornadoes'. This paper carries out an in-de…