Connection of the solar wind with the interstellar medium through numerical modeling

Journal Article · 13 June 2013 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4811052 · OSTI ID:1326063

Heerikhuisen, J. ^[1]; Zirnstein, E. ^[1]; Kawamura, A. D. ^[1]; Pogorelov, N. V. ^[1]; Zank, G. P. ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Alabama in Huntsville, AL (United States). Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research (CSPAR), Dept. of Physics

In this article we investigate the interaction between the solar wind (SW) and the local interstellar medium (LISM) using spacecraft data and numerical simulations. In particular, we focus on neutral atom results from NASA's Interstellar Boundary EXplorer (IBEX) mission, and compare these with implementations of our neutral atom models that look at both the energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) which are created as hydrogen of LISM origin interacts with the heliosphere, as well as the transmission of interstellar Oxygen through the heliospheric interface. Lastly, the goal of this work is to better understand the global structure of the heliosphere and its interaction with the galaxy.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Alabama, Huntsville, AL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0008334; NNX09AG63G NNX09AG29G; NNX09AW44G; NNX09AG62G; NNX11AB48G; NNX12AB30G
• OSTI ID: 1326063
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1539, Issue 1; Conference: SOLAR WIND 13: Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Solar Wind Conference, Big Island, HI (United States), 17-22 Jun 2012; ISSN 0094-243X
• Publisher: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English