Velocity of magnetic holes in the solar wind from Cluster multipoint measurements

Abstract

We present the first statistical study on the velocity of magnetic holes (MHs) in the solar wind. Magnetic holes are localized depressions of the magnetic field, often divided into two classes: rotational and linear MHs. We have conducted a timing analysis of observations of MHs from the Cluster mission in the first quarter of 2005. In total, 69 events were used; out of these, there were 40 linear and 29 rotational MHs, where the limit of magnetic field rotation was set to 50∘. The resulting median velocity was 7.4 ± 45 and 25 ± 42 km s−1 for linear and rotational MHs, respectively. For both classes, around 70 % of the events had a velocity in the solar wind frame that was lower than the Alfvén velocity. Therefore, we conclude that within the observational uncertainties, both linear and rotational MHs are convected with the solar wind.