WISPR Observations of Small-Scale Transients

Abstract:

Through the initial encounters of the Parker Solar Probe (PSP), the Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR) instrument has observed passing solar transients at a variety of different scale sizes and velocities. While these transients include coronal mass ejections (CMEs), the vast majority of the structures seen propagating through the field of view are smaller blobs and streamer outflows. We present a preliminary analysis of these outflows, demonstrating the extra information that WISPR’s unique perspective of the heliosphere can provide. This analysis includes tracking the feature in the heliosphere, the extraction of kinematic and structural information and, where observations permit, a link between the heliospheric feature and a low coronal signature. Using the information obtained from WISPR, in conjunction with our other heliospheric instruments, we will begin to assess the degree to which these smaller transients make up the slow solar wind and will assess the degree to which different transients of different sizes are able to maintain their observed structural coherence in the heliosphere.