Pressure Equilibrium Between The Local Interstellar Clouds And The Local Hot Bubble
Issue Date
2014-08-10Author
Snowden, S. L.
Chiao, Meng P.
Collier, Michael R.
Porter, F. Scott
Thomas, N. E.
Cravens, Thomas Edward
Robertson, I. P.
Galeazzi, Mauro
Uprety, Y.
Ursino, E.
Koutroumpa, D.
Kuntz, K. D.
Lallement, R.
Puspitarini, L.
Lepri, S. T.
McCammon, D.
Morgan, K.
Walsh, B. M.
Publisher
American Astronomical Society
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Three recent results related to the heliosphere and the local interstellar medium (ISM) have provided an improved
insight into the distribution and conditions of material in the solar neighborhood. These are the measurement of the
magnetic field outside of the heliosphere by Voyager 1, the improved mapping of the three-dimensional structure
of neutral material surrounding the Local Cavity using extensive ISM absorption line and reddening data, and
a sounding rocket flight which observed the heliospheric helium focusing cone in X-rays and provided a robust
estimate of the contribution of solar wind charge exchange emission to the ROSAT All-Sky Survey 1/4 keV band
data. Combining these disparate results, we show that the thermal pressure of the plasma in the Local Hot Bubble
(LHB) is P/k = 10,700 cm−3 K. If the LHB is relatively free of a global magnetic field, it can easily be in pressure
(thermal plus magnetic field) equilibrium with the local interstellar clouds, eliminating a long-standing discrepancy
in models of the local ISM.
Description
This is the published version. Copyright © 2014. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
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Citation
Snowden, S. L., M. Chiao, M. R. Collier, F. S. Porter, N. E. Thomas, T. Cravens, I. P. Robertson, M. Galeazzi, Y. Uprety, E. Ursino, D. Koutroumpa, K. D. Kuntz, R. Lallement, L. Puspitarini, S. T. Lepri, D. Mccammon, K. Morgan, and B. M. Walsh. "Pressure Equilibrium Between The Local Interstellar Clouds And The Local Hot Bubble." ApJ The Astrophysical Journal 791.1 (2014). http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/791/1/L14
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