View source for Heliospheric current sheet

The '''heliospheric current sheet''' (HCS) is the wavy, disk-like surface in the [[Solar wind|solar wind]] that separates regions of opposite magnetic polarity — the magnetic equator of the heliosphere. It is created by the Sun's rotating magnetic field being carried outward into a [[Parker spiral|Parker spiral]], producing a thin current sheet where the magnetic field polarity reverses. The HCS is not a flat plane but a complex, warped structure whose shape is governed by the Sun's magnetic [[Dipole moment|dipole moment]] and the tilt of the solar magnetic axis relative to the rotation axis. As Earth orbits the Sun, it crosses the HCS multiple times per year, encounters that produce characteristic [[Sector structure|sector structure]] in the interplanetary magnetic field and modulate the flux of galactic cosmic rays reaching the inner solar system.

''The heliospheric current sheet is the Sun's magnetic seam — a stitched boundary between north and south that ripples through the solar system like a cosmic accordion.''

[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Astrophysics]]
[[Category:Systems]]