Flow in streamer boundaries, and streamer stability Original Research Article

Streamers can extend to many solar radii but the closed field regions, or helmets, reach no higher than 2–4 solar radii. The brightness boundary defining streamers is therefore, a boundary between different flow regimes rather than between static plasma and expanding solar wind. It is reasonable to assume that, this boundary divides fast coronal hole wind from slow wind. Flow inside this boundary can be studied using MHD models and is a type of stagnation flow. We describe such a model that is essentially analytic and show examples of flow solutions within the context and assumptions of the model. The flow affects the stability of the underlying helmet, which can be subject to a leakage out of the cusp that is similar to the small mass releases observed with the SOHO/LASCO coronagraph. It can also cause the helmet to be susceptible to being carried away in a coronal mass ejection. The model therefore, also offers a way to study streamer stability.