Abstract
The suggestion is advanced that the high ion temperatures in the solar wind, observed near the Earth’s orbit, may be associated with the presence of an influx of neutral hydrogen from the boundary of the heliospher’e. Photoionisation and charge exchange trans-form neutral hydrogen atoms into protons. The ionised hydrogen component near the Earth’s orbit is then double-peaked and unstable. The kinetic energy of the protons (originating from the neutral hydrogen component) in the rest frame of the solar wind ions may then be sufficient to produce the observed ion heating.
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