Other
Scientific paper
May 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010eguga..12.5416k&link_type=abstract
EGU General Assembly 2010, held 2-7 May, 2010 in Vienna, Austria, p.5416
Other
Scientific paper
The Ion and Neutral Camera (INCA), part of the Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI) sensor suite on the Cassini orbiter at Saturn, is an energetic neutral atom imager designed to obtain measurements of magnetospheric phenomena, and has done so for more than five years. When not pointing at the planet, INCA can sense ENA from other sources, notably those traversing the interplanetary medium from the direction of the heliosheath. Maps of such emissions (Krimigis et al, 2009) have now been constructed spanning the energy range ~ 5 ≤ E ≤ 55 keV. Similarly, maps < 6 keV have been obtained by the IBEX mission (McComas et al, 2009). These maps, on the main, do not conform to the standard models of the shape of the heliosphere. The distributions of the emissions are clearly influenced by factors over and above those estimated from the flow of interstellar plasma. Assuming that measurements of energetic ions by Voyagers 1, 2 in the heliosheath (Decker et al, 2009) represent the average intensity along the line of sight through the heliosheath, Cassini ENA intensities may be converted to ion fluxes, thus providing a continuous heliosheath ion spectrum 5 ≤ E ≤ 4000 keV. This conversion yields an estimate of the thickness of the heliosheath (~ 50 AU) and the local pressure (~ 0.13 pPa). Based on the ordering of ENA intensities in galactic coordinates, it is hypothesized that the local interstellar magnetic field plays an important role in determining the shape of the heliospheric cavity. The results will be discussed in the context of previous and evolving models. References Krimigis et al, Science, 326, 971, 2009 McComas et al, Science, 326, 959, 2009 Decker et al, Solar Wind 12, 25 June, 2009
Decker Robert
Krimigis Stamatios
Mitchell Donald
Roelof Edmond
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