Testing Possible Sources of the IBEX Ribbon With Observations of Energetic Neutral Atoms

The first all-sky maps of Energetic Neutral Atoms (ENAs) from the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) exhibited smoothly varying, globally distributed flux and a narrow ribbon of enhanced ENA emissions. The IBEX ribbon has ENA flux over a narrow region ≈20° wide, and a factor of 2- 3 higher than the more globally distributed ENA flux. We have separated ENA emissions in the ribbon from the globally distributed flux revealing global characteristics of the interstellar interaction. Overall, the IBEX ENA maps, while very different from initial predictions, reveal the profound influence of the interstellar magnetic field on the Suns interstellar interaction, and the first insight into global properties of the interstellar boundaries. In the talk, we discuss the observed properties of the ribbon and assess the implications of these observations for theories concerning the ribbon's origin.