Is the Local Interstellar Medium Strongly Magnetized?

The magnitude and direction of the magnetic field in the Local Interstellar Medium remain by far the poorest known parameters of the solar system space environment. The current prevailing opinion is that the magnitude of the field is relatively small (1.5 microGauss) and close to the galactic average. The above value is based on the heliospheric confinement data and remains too small to account for the general equilibrium between matter in the Local Bubble and the Local Interstellar Cloud. Here we analyze the consequences of the magnetic field being almost 3 times larger on the structure of the heliospheric interface in the axisymmetric case when the LIC magnetic field direction is parallel to the relative direction of motion between the LISM and the Sun. A field of such strength is expected to exist in the LIC, if the latter condensed from material inside a magnetic flux tube rebounding from the wall of the Local Bubble cavity. The analysis is performed using a newly developed multifluid-neutral MHD model. We show that a bow shock ahead of the heliopause still exists for supersonic and subalfvenic LISM parameters, and is of a slow, rather than a fast, type. Our results agree well with the observations of the Lyman-Alpha absorption spectra and exhibit positions of the termination shock and the heliopause similar to those obtained from the standard superalfvenic model.