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Title: THE HELIOTAIL REVEALED BY THE INTERSTELLAR BOUNDARY EXPLORER

Abstract

Recent combined observations from the first three years of Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) data allow us to examine the heliosphere's downwind region-the heliotail-for the first time. In contrast to a preliminary identification of a narrow ''offset heliotail'' structure, we find a broad slow solar wind plasma sheet crossing essentially the entire downwind side of the heliosphere at low to mid-latitudes, with fast wind tail regions to the north and south. The slow wind plasma sheet exhibits the steepest ENA spectra in the IBEX sky maps, appears as a two-lobed structure (lobes on the port and starboard sides), and is twisted in the sense of (but at a smaller angle than) the external magnetic field. The overall heliotail structure clearly demonstrates the intermediate nature of the heliosphere's interstellar interaction, where both the external dynamic and magnetic pressures strongly affect the heliosphere.

Authors:
; ;  [1];  [2]
  1. Southwest Research Institute, P.O. Drawer 28510, San Antonio, TX 78228 (United States)
  2. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Intelligence and Space Research Division, P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22140169
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 771; Journal Issue: 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; HELIOSPHERE; INTERACTIONS; INTERSTELLAR SPACE; MAGNETIC FIELDS; PLASMA SHEET; SOLAR WIND; SPECTRA; SUN

Citation Formats

McComas, D. J., Dayeh, M. A., Livadiotis, G., Funsten, H. O., and Schwadron, N. A., E-mail: dmccomas@swri.org. THE HELIOTAIL REVEALED BY THE INTERSTELLAR BOUNDARY EXPLORER. United States: N. p., 2013. Web. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/771/2/77.
McComas, D. J., Dayeh, M. A., Livadiotis, G., Funsten, H. O., & Schwadron, N. A., E-mail: dmccomas@swri.org. THE HELIOTAIL REVEALED BY THE INTERSTELLAR BOUNDARY EXPLORER. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/771/2/77
McComas, D. J., Dayeh, M. A., Livadiotis, G., Funsten, H. O., and Schwadron, N. A., E-mail: dmccomas@swri.org. 2013. "THE HELIOTAIL REVEALED BY THE INTERSTELLAR BOUNDARY EXPLORER". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/771/2/77.
@article{osti_22140169,
title = {THE HELIOTAIL REVEALED BY THE INTERSTELLAR BOUNDARY EXPLORER},
author = {McComas, D. J. and Dayeh, M. A. and Livadiotis, G. and Funsten, H. O. and Schwadron, N. A., E-mail: dmccomas@swri.org},
abstractNote = {Recent combined observations from the first three years of Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) data allow us to examine the heliosphere's downwind region-the heliotail-for the first time. In contrast to a preliminary identification of a narrow ''offset heliotail'' structure, we find a broad slow solar wind plasma sheet crossing essentially the entire downwind side of the heliosphere at low to mid-latitudes, with fast wind tail regions to the north and south. The slow wind plasma sheet exhibits the steepest ENA spectra in the IBEX sky maps, appears as a two-lobed structure (lobes on the port and starboard sides), and is twisted in the sense of (but at a smaller angle than) the external magnetic field. The overall heliotail structure clearly demonstrates the intermediate nature of the heliosphere's interstellar interaction, where both the external dynamic and magnetic pressures strongly affect the heliosphere.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-637X/771/2/77},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22140169}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {0004-637X},
number = 2,
volume = 771,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jul 10 00:00:00 EDT 2013},
month = {Wed Jul 10 00:00:00 EDT 2013}
}