First Global Observations Of The Interstellar Interaction From The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX)
Abstract
The Sun moves through the local interstellar medium (ISM), continuously emitting ionized, supersonic solar wind plasma and carving out a cavity in interstellar space called the heliosphere. The border of this cavity traces regions where the interstellar gas first interacts with the solar wind. The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft has just completed the first all-sky maps of this interstellar interaction at the edge of the heliosphere, by imaging energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) emanating from this region. The IBEX all-sky maps and energy spectra provide detailed information about this interaction. Our observations show globally distributed ENA fluxes ordered by the solar wind structure, superimposed on an unexpected feature. This poster summarizes the IBEX observations, shares our unexpected results, and discusses the new information on stellar wind interactions with the ISM that we have gleaned from these data. Acknowledgments: We thank the IBEX team members. This work is primarily funded by the NASA Explorer Program.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #215
- Pub Date:
- January 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010AAS...21541520F