Voyager Observations of the Termination Shock and in the Heliosheath

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2104 Cosmic Rays, 2114 Energetic Particles (7514), 2124 Heliopause And Solar Wind Termination, 2134 Interplanetary Magnetic Fields

Scientific paper

The two Voyager spacecraft have crossed the solar wind termination shock and are in the heliosheath where the subsonic wind is deflected as it interacts with the local interstellar medium. Voyager 1 is at 108 AU and ~17 AU beyond the expected current location of the shock at 34° degrees north latitude, while Voyager 2 is at 88 AU, just 4 AU beyond where it crossed the shock at a latitude of -28° degrees. Comparing conditions in these two different regions will help separate spatial and temporal changes as the two spacecraft probe more deeply into the heliosheath during a period of increasing solar activity. The diversion of the plasma flow and compression of the magnetic field will increase as the heliopause is approached, with transients revealing the propagation of solar disturbances in the heliosheath. Changes in the energy dependent gradients of anomalous cosmic rays will be a signature of the location of their source and their propagation in the heliosheath. The evolution of the spectrum of low energy ions from the termination shock at Voyager 2 toward the steady spectrum observed at Voyager 1 over the last three years suggests a common shock source mechanism that uniformly fills the heliosheath beyond ~86 AU. Although galactic cosmic rays are thought to be modulated in the heliosheath, their gradient is also small, indicating larger gradients beyond Voyager 1. These and other observations will inform our understanding of the complex interaction of the solar wind and the surrounding interstellar medium.

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