Spectral Properties of Energetic Neutral Atoms Measured by IBEX and Their Implications for the Microphysics of the Termination Shock

Details Spectral Properties of Energetic Neutral Atoms Measured by IBEX and Their Implications for the Microphysics of the Termination Shock Spectral Properties of Energetic Neutral Atoms Measured by IBEX and Their Implications for the Microphysics of the Termination Shock

Dec 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufmsh14a..09d&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #SH14A-09

Physics

[2124] Interplanetary Physics / Heliopause And Solar Wind Termination, [2126] Interplanetary Physics / Heliosphere/Interstellar Medium Interactions, [2151] Interplanetary Physics / Neutral Particles, [2152] Interplanetary Physics / Pickup Ions

Scientific paper

Since its launch in October 2008, the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft has provided unprecedented measurements of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) over the energy range from a ~few eV up to ˜6 keV. These ENAs are believed to be produced downstream of the termination shock (i.e., in the heliosheath) when protons with similar or lower energies charge exchange with interstellar neutral hydrogen atoms. This heliosheath proton population consists of at least 3 distinct sources, namely, (1) thermal solar wind ions that are transmitted through the termination shock, (2) hot, suprathermal pick-up ions that are transmitted through the shock, and (3) suprathermal pick-up ions that are reflected at the shock. Thus, the ENA fluxes and the ENA energy spectra measured by IBEX at 1 AU provide vital clues about the heliosheath proton distributions that are produced partly as a result of complex, microphysical processes occurring near the termination shock, i.e., the manner in which the shock dissipates and distributes its energy into the existing proton populations. In this paper, we compare ENA properties (e.g., fluxes, energy spectra, and the energy-dependence of the spectral indices) measured by IBEX-Hi in the ˜0.4-6 keV energy range along the lines-of-sight of the two Voyager spacecraft with the corresponding in-situ plasma, magnetic field, and energetic proton properties obtained near the termination shock and in the heliosheath. In particular, we employ a 3D MHD-kinetic global model and use the Voyager data to constrain shock properties (e.g., the shock compression ratio) to fit the ENA spectra measured at 1 AU. We use the model's best-fit parameters to infer properties of the proton distributions in the sub-keV energy range in the heliosheath.

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