DETERMINATION OF THE HELIOSPHERIC RADIAL MAGNETIC FIELD FROM THE STANDOFF DISTANCE OF A CME-DRIVEN SHOCK OBSERVED BY THE<i>STEREO</i>SPACECRAFT

Abstract

We report on the determination of radial magnetic field strength in the heliocentric distance range from 6 to 120 solar radii (R☉) using data from Coronagraph 2 (COR2) and Heliospheric Imager I (HI1) instruments on board the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory spacecraft following the standoff-distance method of Gopalswamy & Yashiro. We measured the shock standoff distance of the 2008 April 5 coronal mass ejection (CME) and determined the flux-rope curvature by fitting the three-dimensional shape of the CME using the Graduated Cylindrical Shell model. The radial magnetic field strength is computed from the Alfvén speed and the density of the ambient medium. We also compare the derived magnetic field strength with in situ measurements made by the Helios spacecraft, which measured the magnetic field at the heliocentric distance range from 60 to 215 R☉. We found that the radial magnetic field strength decreases from 28 mG at 6 R☉ to 0.17 mG at 120 R☉. In addition, we found that the radial profile can be described by a power law.