THE 2-3 kHz HELIOSPHERIC RADIATION, THE IBEX RIBBON, AND THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL SHAPE OF THE HELIOPAUSE
- Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX (United States)
- School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney (Australia)
Recent Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) observations indicate that the total dynamic pressure in the interstellar medium is closely partitioned between the plasma and the magnetic field, with an Alfven Mach number M{sub A} {approx} 1 and a sonic Mach number {approx}2. Observations of the IBEX Ribbon provide a unique determination of the orientation of the undraped interstellar magnetic field along the heliopause. There is also a striking correspondence between the Ribbon location and the source locations of 2-3 kHz radiation determined from Voyager observations: the radiation sources north of the ecliptic form a line parallel to but offset by about 30 Degree-Sign from the Ribbon. A general Rankine-Hugoniot analysis is used to argue that the heliopause should not be symmetric about the velocity vector V{sub ISM} of the interstellar medium relative to the Sun (the nominal nose direction). Furthermore, the closest point on the heliopause to the Sun should be on the Ribbon for M{sub A} = 0 and at least 9 Degree-Sign from the nominal nose direction toward the Ribbon for M{sub A} = 1. These new results are combined into a conceptual model of the heliopause that includes (1) a plasma depletion layer formed as the interstellar magnetic field drapes against the heliopause, (2) a minimum inner heliosheath thickness and closest point between the Sun and heliopause along (or close to) the Ribbon rather than in the nominal nose direction (along V{sub ISM}), and (3) inference of an asymmetric heliopause shape from the angular offset of the radio sources and Ribbon and from the Rankine-Hugoniot analysis.
- OSTI ID:
- 22140175
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 771, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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