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Executive Summary
Pages 1-4

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From page 1...
... By taking advantage of our ability to closely scrutinize and directly sample the plasma environments of the Sun, Earth, the planets, and other solar system bodies, we can test our understanding of plasmas and extend this knowledge to the stars and galaxies that we can view only from afar Solar and space physics research explores a diverse range of plasma physical phenomena encountered at first hand in the solar system. Sunspots, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, the solar wind, collisionless shocks, magnetospheres, radiation belts, and auroras are just a few of the many phenomena that are unified by the common set of physical principles of plasma physics.
From page 2...
... This will require understanding of strong interplanetary shocks in the outer heliosphere and, ultimately, direct observation of the termination shock. Flux ropes have also been extensively observed, but many unanswered questions remain: How are flux ropes formed and how do they evolvei What determines their sizei How are they destroyedi What is their relation to magnetic reconnectioni Chapter 3 also examines magnetobydrodynamic turbulence, a phenomenon that is a classic example of the way in which magnetized plasmas couple strongly across multiple spatial and temporal scales.
From page 3...
... The key mechanisms by which magnetized plasmas accelerate charged particles are reviewed in Chapter 6, Energetic Particle Acceleration.' Shock acceleration occurs throughout the solar system, from shocks driven by solar flares and ChlEs to planetary bow shocks and the termination shock near the boundary of the heliosphere. Particles are accelerated at shocks by a variety of mechanisms, and the resulting energies can be quite high, >100 MeV and even in the GeV range for solar energetic particles accelerated at CME-driven shocks.
From page 4...
... NOTE 1 NationalResearchCouncil, TheSunrorheEarrh~ndBeyond ADecadalRerearchStatepyinSolarandSpacePhysics,The National Academies Press, Washington, D C, 2003 See also The Sun so the Earth and Beyond: Panel Re''orts, 2003, the compan ion volume cont ining the reports ot the five study panels that suppo ted the survey


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