Context. It has been recently accepted that the standard classification of the solar wind solely according to flow speed is outdated, and particular interest has been devoted to the study of the origin and evolution of so-called Alfvenic slow solar wind streams and to what extent such streams resemble or differ from fast wind. Aims. In March 2022, Solar Orbiter completed its first nominal phase perihelion passage. During this interval, it observed several Alfvenic streams, allowing for characterization of fluctuations in three slow wind intervals (AS1-AS3) and comparison with a fast wind stream (F) at almost the same heliocentric distance. Methods. This work makes use of Solar Orbiter plasma parameters from the Solar Wind Analyzer (SWA) and magnetic field measurements from the magnetometer (MAG). The magnetic connectivity to the solar sources of selected solar wind intervals was reconstructed using a ballistic extrapolation based on measured solar wind speed down to the (spherical) source surface at 2.5 Rs below which a potential field extrapolation was used to map back to the Sun. The source regions were identified using SDO/AIA observations. A spectral analysis of in situ measured magnetic field and velocity fluctuations was performed to characterize correlations, Alfvenicity, normalized cross-helicity, and residual energy in the frequency domain as well as intermittency of the fluctuations and spectral energy transfer rate estimated via mixed third-order moments. A machine learning technique was used to separate proton core, proton beam, and alpha particles and to study v-b correlations for the different ion populations in order to evaluate the role played by each population in determining the Alfvenic content of solar wind fluctuations. Results. The comparison between fast wind and Alfvenic slow wind intervals highlights the differences between the two solar wind regimes: The fast wind is characterized by larger amplitude fluctuations, and magnetic and velocity fluctuations are closer to equipartition of energy. In fact the Alfvenic slow wind streams appear to be on a spectrum of wind types, with AS1, originating from open field lines neighboring active regions and displaying similarities with the fast wind in terms of fluctuation amplitude and turbulence characteristics, but not with respect to the alpha particles and proton beams. The other two slow streams differed both in their sources as well as plasma characteristics, with AS2 coming from the expansion of a narrow coronal hole corridor and AS3 from a region straddling a pseudostreamer. The latter displayed the coldest and highest density but the slowest stream with the smallest fluctuation amplitude and greatest magnetic energy excess. It also showed the largest scatter in proton beam speeds and the greatest difference in speed between proton beam and alpha particles. Conclusions. This study shows how the old fast-slow solar wind dichotomy, already called into question by the observations of slower Alfvenic solar wind streams, should further be refined, as the Alfvenic slow wind, originating in different solar wind regions, show significant differences in density, temperature, and proton and alpha-particle properties in the inner heliosphere. The observations presented here provide the starting point for a better understanding of the origin and evolution of different solar wind streams as well as the evolving turbulence contained within.

Aims. Solar Orbiter launched in February 2020 with the goal of revealing the connections between the Sun’s interior, atmosphere, and the heliosphere. The Solar Orbiter Heavy Ion Sensor (HIS) is a time-of-flight ion mass spectrometer dedicated to measuring heavy ions in the solar wind. Methods. We present an overview of the first measurements of heavy ion composition from HIS, reviewing the methods used to transform the spectra obtained on board into scientific data products and examining two solar wind case studies as well as the statistical properties of the heavy ion composition observed by HIS. We also carried out a comparison with prior measurements of heavy ions at L1. Results. The HIS data set provides the first mass- and charge-resolved heavy ion measurements in the inner heliosphere. Conclusions. These high temporal resolution data have the potential to transform our understanding of the connections between the solar wind and its origin at the Sun, as well as the interaction between the solar wind and the environment around planets, comets, and in the interstellar medium.

We present a technique for deriving the temperature anisotropy of solar wind protons observed by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) mission in the near-Sun solar wind. The radial proton temperature measured by the Solar Wind Electrons, Alphas, and Protons (SWEAP) Solar Probe Cup is compared with the orientation of local magnetic field measured by the FIELDS fluxgate magnetometer, and the proton temperatures parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field are extracted. This procedure is applied to different data products, and the results are compared and optimum timescales for data selection and trends in the uncertainty in the method are identified. We find that the moment-based proton temperature anisotropy is more physically consistent with the expected limits of the mirror and firehose instabilities, possibly because the nonlinear fits do not capture a significant non-Maxwellian shape to the proton velocity distribution function near the Sun. The proton beam has a small effect on total proton temperature anisotropy owing to its much smaller density relative to the core compared to what was seen by previous spacecraft farther from the Sun. Several radial trends in the temperature components and the variation of the anisotropy with parallel plasma beta are presented. Our results suggest that we may see stronger anisotropic heating as PSP moves closer to the Sun, and that a careful treatment of the shape of the proton distribution may be needed to correctly describe the temperature.