It has long been known that the atmosphere of the Sun, in particular its hot corona, extends far into interplanetary space and constitutes the heliospheric environment of the planets. This supersonic wind driven by the hot corona, had been predicted by Parker and in the last three decades has been the object of intensive research including spacecraft observations, ground-based scintillation studies and extensive theoretical analysis. We have devoted some effort in the past to research in this area, as may be noted from my publication list, mainly in collaboration with Mike Schulz. In the last few years, I have returned to this subject and am looking at some interesting phenomena.
The solar wind is a large natural laboratory for plasma physics research.
Experimental observations and measurements in different regions of the solar
wind plasma over the last three decades and their comparison with
theoretical results have led to the development of the theory.
On the other hand many observed solar wind phenomena
and experimental data
still require theoretical research and explanation.
The present research is an attempt to explain some physical
phenomena, which occur in the Solar wind and in the vicinity of the
planets. This explanation requires detailed consideration of applicable
approximations for the realistic features of the solar wind plasma.