Relationship between the Temperatures of Solar Corona and Planetary
Magnetosheaths
Abstract
This research aims to explore the relationship between the temperatures
of solar corona and planetary magnetosheaths. Based on the second law of
thermodynamics, the maximum temperatures of the planetary magnetosheaths
cannot be higher than that of the solar corona. A theoretical
investigation has been made on the expansion of solar corona, the
propagation of solar wind and the compressions of planetary
magnetosheaths by the bow shocks. The method used is general and fit for
the dynamics of multiple components, thermal anisotropy, and
non-Maxwellian plasmas in a steady state, and approximate formulas have
been obtained. It is found that, for the steady situations, the
temperatures of all the planetary magnetosheaths at the subsolar points
in the solar system have comparable values, which are also close to the
maximum temperature of the solar corona. Secondly, a systematic
statistical survey on the average temperatures of the planetary
magnetosheaths have been carried out, which show that, the average
plasma temperatures of the magnetosheaths of Earth and Saturn are 183eV
(2.12MK) and 172eV (2.00MK), respectively. The statistical results are
consistant with the theoretical results. These results are very
practical for the estimations of the thermal properties of the planetary
magnetospheres.