Energetic neutral atom and interstellar flow observations with IBEX: Implications for the global heliosphere

Journal Article · Fri Mar 25 04:00:00 EDT 2016 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4943851· OSTI ID:22590925

McComas, D. J.; Desai, M. I.; Fuselier, S. A. ^[1]; Christian, E. R. ^[2]; Funsten, H. O. ^[3]; Moebius, E. ^[4]; Reno, M.; Scherrer, J.; Zirnstein, E. ^[1]

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1. Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, 78238 (United States)
2. Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
3. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States)
4. University of New Hampshire, Durham NH, 03824 (United States)

Since launch in Oct. 2008, IBEX, with its two energetic neutral atom (ENA) cameras, has provided humankind with the first-ever global images of the complex boundary separating the heliosphere from the local interstellar medium (LISM). IBEX’s energy-resolved all-sky maps, collected every six months, are yielding remarkable new insights into the heliospheres structure as it is shaped by the combined forces of the local interstellar flow, the local interstellar magnetic field (LISMF), and the evolving solar wind. IBEX has also acquired the first images of ENAs backscattered from the surface of the moon as well as global images of the magnetospheric response to solar wind disturbances. IBEX thus addresses all three Heliophysics science objectives set forth in the 2014 Science Plan for NASAs Science Mission Directorate (SMD) as well as the goals in the recent Solar and Space Physics Decadal Survey (NRC 2012). In addition, with the information it provides on the properties of the LISM and the LISMF, IBEX represents a unique bridge between heliophysics and astrophysics, and fills in critical knowledge for understanding the habitability of exoplanetary systems and the future habitability of Earth and the solar system. Because of the few-year time lag due to solar wind and ENA transport, IBEX observed the solar wind/ LISM interaction characteristic of declining phase/solar minimum conditions. In the continuing mission, IBEX captures the response of the interstellar boundaries to the changing structure of the solar wind in its transition toward the “mini” solar maximum and possibly the decline into the next solar minimum. The continuing IBEX mission affords never-to-be-repeated opportunities to coordinate global imaging of the heliospheric boundary with in-situ measurements by the Voyagers as they pass beyond the heliopause and start to directly sample the LISM.

• OSTI ID: 22590925
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 1720; ISSN 0094-243X; ISSN APCPCS
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS
ATOMS
CAMERAS
DISTURBANCES
HELIOSPHERE
IMAGES
INTERSTELLAR MAGNETIC FIELDS
INTERSTELLAR SPACE
MOON
NASA
SOLAR SYSTEM
SOLAR WIND