Lyman-α Absorption from Heliotail ENAs

Details Lyman-α Absorption from Heliotail ENAs Lyman-α Absorption from Heliotail ENAs

Dec 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010aipc.1302...18w&link_type=abstract

PICKUP IONS THROUGHOUT THE HELIOSPHERE AND BEYOND: Proceedings of the 9th Annual International Astrophysics Conference. AIP Con

Computer Science

Databases

Astronomical Telescopes, Interstellar Matter, Sky Surveys, Astrometric And Interferometric Instruments, Physical Properties, Astronomical Catalogs, Atlases, Sky Surveys, Databases, Retrieval Systems, Archives, Etc.

Scientific paper

The energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) that the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) is currently studying are messengers from the termination shock and beyond. Ultraviolet spectra from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) provide another way to study these ENAs, which are capable of producing detectable absorption signatures in HST Lyman-α spectra of nearby stars. This broad, shallow absorption is only observed within 20° of the downwind direction. Only the lengthy downwind lines of sight through the long heliotail build up enough column density of ENAs to yield detectable absorption. The absorption therefore represents the first real observational detection of the heliotail. We try to connect ENA fluxes observed by IBEX with the Lyman-α absorption observed by HST. In the downwind direction, IBEX observes ENA fluxes that increase towards lower energies, at least to 0.2 keV, but consistency with the HST measurements seems to require that the ENA fluxes at least flatten if not decrease below 0.2 keV. The ``ribbon'' of ENAs detected by IBEX is not detected in Lyman-α absorption, which may be a problem for any explanation of the ribbon that proposes a source beyond our heliosphere.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Lyman-α Absorption from Heliotail ENAs does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Lyman-α Absorption from Heliotail ENAs, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Lyman-α Absorption from Heliotail ENAs will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1475268