Suprathermal electron isotropy in high‐beta solar wind and its role in heat flux dropouts

Time variations in plasma beta and a parameter which measures isotropy in suprathermal electron pitch angle distributions show a remarkably close correspondence throughout the solar wind. The finding implies that high‐beta plasma, with its multiple magnetic holes and sharp field and plasma gradients, is conducive to electron pitch‐angle scattering, which reduces heat flux from the Sun without field‐line disconnection. Thus the finding impacts our understanding of signatures we use to determine magnetic topology in the heliosphere.