A heliospheric vortex street?

Abstract

This paper presents the hypothesis that the periodic meridional (north-south) flow observed by Voyager 2 in the neighborhood of 20-25 AU were produced by a heliospheric vortex street. The separation of the vortices was approximately 6 AU in the radial direction, and the vortices were carried away from the sun at a speed of approximately 425 km/s. This hypothesis can account for the observed + or - 5 degree deflections in the flow with a period of 25.5 days, and it predicts small amplitude fluctuations in the bulk speed with two maxima per solar rotation, which is consistent with observations in 1986.