Over the southern solar pole: low-energy interplanetary charged particles

The heliosphere instrument for spectrum, composition, and anisotropy (HISCALE) recorded the fluxes of low-energy ions and electrons (> 50 kiloelectron volts) when Ulysses crossed the southern solar polar region and revealed that the large-scale structure of the heliosphere to at least approximately -75 degrees was significantly influenced by the near-equatorial heliospheric current sheet. Electrons in particular were accelerated by the current sheet-produced and poleward-propagating interplanetary reverse shock at helioradii far from the Ulysses location. At heliolatitudes higher than approximately -75 degrees on the Ulysses ascent to the pole and approximately -50 degrees on the descent, small, less regular enhancements of the lowest energy electron fluxes were measured whose relations to the current sheet were less clear. The anomalous component of low-energy (approximately 2 to 5 megaelectron volts per nucleon) oxygen flux at the highest heliolatitudes was found to be approximately 10(-8) [per square centimeter per second per steradian (per kiloelectronvolt per nucleon)]; the anomalous Ne/O ratio was approximately 0.25.