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arXiv · 2208.11804

Heliosphere Meets Interstellar Medium, in a Galactic Context

Stella Koch Ocker·James Cordes·Shami Chatterjee·Jeffrey Hazboun·Timothy Dolch·Daniel Stinebring·Dustin Madison·Stephen White·Gregory Taylor·Natalia Lewandowska·Michael Lam
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Abstract

The physical conditions within our heliosphere are driven by the Sun's motion through an evolving interstellar environment that remains largely unexplored. The next generation of outer heliosphere and interstellar explorers will answer fundamental questions about the heliosphere's relationship with the very local interstellar medium (VLISM) by diving deeper into the Sun's interstellar surroundings. The impact of these future missions will be vastly enhanced by concurrent, interdisciplinary studies that examine the direct connections between conditions within the heliosphere, the heliosphere's immediate interstellar environment, and the larger-scale Galactic ISM. Comparisons of the heliosphere and VLISM to their analogs across the Galaxy will constrain the global processes shaping both stellar astrospheres and their sustained impact on the ISM.

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Stella Koch Ocker, James Cordes, Shami Chatterjee, Jeffrey Hazboun, Timothy Dolch, Daniel Stinebring, Dustin Madison, Stephen White, Gregory Taylor, Natalia Lewandowska, Michael Lam. 2022-08-25. Heliosphere Meets Interstellar Medium, in a Galactic Context. https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.11804

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