Modeling solar wind mass‐loading in the vicinity of the Sun using 3‐D MHD simulations

Abstract

Collisionless shocks due to mass‐loading were first discussed to describe the solar wind flow around a cometary atmosphere, showing its choking effects on the flow. Recent observations have led to an increased interest in mass‐loading occurring in the solar corona due to both sungrazing comets and collisional debris production by sunward migrating interplanetary dust particles. The 1‐D simulations with a hydrodynamic model have illustrated the impact on the solar wind from abrupt mass‐loading in the coronal region. Full 3‐D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations using a solar corona model based on the Block‐Adaptive‐Tree‐Solarwind‐Roe‐Upwind‐Scheme code provide a more realistic coronal environment for modeling specific events applicable to modeling the mass‐loaded coronal wind. A specific application is introduced modeling the mass‐loading effects from a sungrazing comet.