IBEXのエネルギー中立原子地図における外部のヘリオスフィアの構造とスペクトルの変化
H O Funsten1, F Allegrini, G B Crew
1Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA. hfunsten@lanl.gov
まとめ
星間境界探査機 (IBEX) は,ヘリオシート (heliosheath) にある独特のエネルギッシュな陽子集団を明らかにした. 地元の恒星間磁場の近くにあると思われる顕著なリボンの特徴は,地球規模に分布した人口よりも著しく高いイオン圧力を示しています.
科学分野:
- 宇宙物理学 宇宙物理学
- ヘリオフィジックス ヘリオフィジックス
- 天体物理学 天体物理学
背景:
- ヘリオシアは,太陽風の終結ショックと局所的な恒星間介質の間の領域です.
- エネルギー中性原子 (ENAs) は,ヘリオシート内のプラズマ状態の洞察を提供します.
研究 の 目的:
- 星間境界探査機 (IBEX) によって得られたヘリオシートからの ENA の全天空画像を分析するために.
- エネルギーのある陽子集団とそのヘリオシート内の空間的分布を特徴づける.
主な方法:
- IBEXの全天空 ENAフルスマップを使用しています.
- 0.2〜6キロ電子ボルトの範囲のヘリオシート陽子集団のスペクトルシグネチャーを分析する.
主要な成果:
- エクリプティック緯度と相関するスペクトルシグネチャーを持つ独特の非熱的ヘリオシェアプロトン群を特定しました.
- 終結ショックで加熱された陽子の世界的に分布した集団を観測した.
- 星間磁場方向の近くにある可能性が高い天空の弧のようなリボンのような特徴を検出しました.
- リボンの非熱イオン圧力-厚さ積 (70-100 pN/cm2 AU) を定量化し,世界的に分布した集団 (30-60 pN/cm2 AU) を大幅に上回った.
結論:
- ヘリオシアには,支配的なリボン特徴を含む複雑なエネルギッシュな陽子集団が含まれています.
- リボンのより高いイオン圧力は,ヘリオシート内の明確な物理的プロセスまたは相互作用を示唆しています.
- IBEXの観測は,ヘリオスフィアの局所的な恒星間介質との相互作用を理解するために重要なデータを提供します.
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