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Title: PRESSURE EQUILIBRIUM BETWEEN THE LOCAL INTERSTELLAR CLOUDS AND THE LOCAL HOT BUBBLE

Abstract

Three recent results related to the heliosphere and the local interstellar medium (ISM) have provided an improved insight into the distribution and conditions of material in the solar neighborhood. These are the measurement of the magnetic field outside of the heliosphere by Voyager 1, the improved mapping of the three-dimensional structure of neutral material surrounding the Local Cavity using extensive ISM absorption line and reddening data, and a sounding rocket flight which observed the heliospheric helium focusing cone in X-rays and provided a robust estimate of the contribution of solar wind charge exchange emission to the ROSAT All-Sky Survey 1/4 keV band data. Combining these disparate results, we show that the thermal pressure of the plasma in the Local Hot Bubble (LHB) is P/k = 10, 700 cm{sup –3} K. If the LHB is relatively free of a global magnetic field, it can easily be in pressure (thermal plus magnetic field) equilibrium with the local interstellar clouds, eliminating a long-standing discrepancy in models of the local ISM.

Authors:
; ; ; ;  [1]; ;  [2]; ; ;  [3];  [4];  [5]; ;  [6];  [7]; ;  [8]
  1. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
  2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas, 1251 Wescoe Hall Drive, Lawrence, KS 66045 (United States)
  3. Department of Physics, University of Miami, 1320 Campo Sano Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146 (United States)
  4. Université Versailles St-Quentin, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, CNRS/INSU, LATMOS-IPSL, 11 Boulevard d'Alembert, F-78280 Guyancourt (France)
  5. The Henry A. Rowland Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
  6. GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS UMR8111, Université Paris Diderot, 5 Place Jules Janssen, F-92190 Meudon (France)
  7. University of Michigan, 2455 Hayward Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States)
  8. Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706 (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22365360
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 791; Journal Issue: 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 2041-8205
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; ABSORPTION; CHARGE EXCHANGE; HELIOSPHERE; HELIUM; INTERSTELLAR SPACE; KEV RANGE; MAGNETIC FIELDS; PLASMA; SOLAR WIND; SOUND WAVES; THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS; VOYAGER SPACE PROBES; X RADIATION

Citation Formats

Snowden, S. L., Chiao, M., Collier, M. R., Porter, F. S., Thomas, N. E., Cravens, T., Robertson, I. P., Galeazzi, M., Uprety, Y., Ursino, E., Koutroumpa, D., Kuntz, K. D., Lallement, R., Puspitarini, L., Lepri, S. T., McCammon, D., Morgan, K., and Walsh, B. M., E-mail: steven.l.snowden@nasa.gov. PRESSURE EQUILIBRIUM BETWEEN THE LOCAL INTERSTELLAR CLOUDS AND THE LOCAL HOT BUBBLE. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/791/1/L14.
Snowden, S. L., Chiao, M., Collier, M. R., Porter, F. S., Thomas, N. E., Cravens, T., Robertson, I. P., Galeazzi, M., Uprety, Y., Ursino, E., Koutroumpa, D., Kuntz, K. D., Lallement, R., Puspitarini, L., Lepri, S. T., McCammon, D., Morgan, K., & Walsh, B. M., E-mail: steven.l.snowden@nasa.gov. PRESSURE EQUILIBRIUM BETWEEN THE LOCAL INTERSTELLAR CLOUDS AND THE LOCAL HOT BUBBLE. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/791/1/L14
Snowden, S. L., Chiao, M., Collier, M. R., Porter, F. S., Thomas, N. E., Cravens, T., Robertson, I. P., Galeazzi, M., Uprety, Y., Ursino, E., Koutroumpa, D., Kuntz, K. D., Lallement, R., Puspitarini, L., Lepri, S. T., McCammon, D., Morgan, K., and Walsh, B. M., E-mail: steven.l.snowden@nasa.gov. 2014. "PRESSURE EQUILIBRIUM BETWEEN THE LOCAL INTERSTELLAR CLOUDS AND THE LOCAL HOT BUBBLE". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/791/1/L14.
@article{osti_22365360,
title = {PRESSURE EQUILIBRIUM BETWEEN THE LOCAL INTERSTELLAR CLOUDS AND THE LOCAL HOT BUBBLE},
author = {Snowden, S. L. and Chiao, M. and Collier, M. R. and Porter, F. S. and Thomas, N. E. and Cravens, T. and Robertson, I. P. and Galeazzi, M. and Uprety, Y. and Ursino, E. and Koutroumpa, D. and Kuntz, K. D. and Lallement, R. and Puspitarini, L. and Lepri, S. T. and McCammon, D. and Morgan, K. and Walsh, B. M., E-mail: steven.l.snowden@nasa.gov},
abstractNote = {Three recent results related to the heliosphere and the local interstellar medium (ISM) have provided an improved insight into the distribution and conditions of material in the solar neighborhood. These are the measurement of the magnetic field outside of the heliosphere by Voyager 1, the improved mapping of the three-dimensional structure of neutral material surrounding the Local Cavity using extensive ISM absorption line and reddening data, and a sounding rocket flight which observed the heliospheric helium focusing cone in X-rays and provided a robust estimate of the contribution of solar wind charge exchange emission to the ROSAT All-Sky Survey 1/4 keV band data. Combining these disparate results, we show that the thermal pressure of the plasma in the Local Hot Bubble (LHB) is P/k = 10, 700 cm{sup –3} K. If the LHB is relatively free of a global magnetic field, it can easily be in pressure (thermal plus magnetic field) equilibrium with the local interstellar clouds, eliminating a long-standing discrepancy in models of the local ISM.},
doi = {10.1088/2041-8205/791/1/L14},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22365360}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal Letters},
issn = {2041-8205},
number = 1,
volume = 791,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Aug 10 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Sun Aug 10 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}