Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences (Feb 2023)
What is the heliopause? Importance of magnetic reconnection and measurement requirements
- B. Lavraud,
- B. Lavraud,
- M. Opher,
- K. Dialynas,
- D. L. Turner,
- S. Eriksson,
- E. Provornikova,
- M. Z. Kornbleuth,
- P. Mostafavi,
- A. Fedorov,
- J. D. Richardson,
- S. A. Fuselier,
- J. Drake,
- M. Swisdak,
- M. Eubanks,
- T. Y. Chen,
- H. Kucharek,
- P. Kollmann,
- M. Blanc,
- N. André,
- V. Génot,
- R. F. Wimmer-Schweingruber,
- S. Barabash,
- P. Brandt,
- R. McNutt
Affiliations
- B. Lavraud
- Laboratoire d’astrophysique de Bordeaux, Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, Pessac, France
- B. Lavraud
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, CNES, Toulouse, France
- M. Opher
- Department of Astronomy, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
- K. Dialynas
- Office of Space Research and Technology, Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece
- D. L. Turner
- Applied Physics Laboratory, The Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, MD, United States
- S. Eriksson
- Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Boulder, CO, United States
- E. Provornikova
- Applied Physics Laboratory, The Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, MD, United States
- M. Z. Kornbleuth
- Department of Astronomy, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States
- P. Mostafavi
- Applied Physics Laboratory, The Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, MD, United States
- A. Fedorov
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, CNES, Toulouse, France
- J. D. Richardson
- Massachussets Institute of Technology, Boston, MA, United States
- S. A. Fuselier
- Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, United States
- J. Drake
- Department of Physics, The Institute for Physical Science and Technology and the Joint Space Science Institute, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
- M. Swisdak
- 0IREAP, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States
- M. Eubanks
- Massachussets Institute of Technology, Boston, MA, United States
- T. Y. Chen
- 1Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
- H. Kucharek
- 2Space Science Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States
- P. Kollmann
- Applied Physics Laboratory, The Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, MD, United States
- M. Blanc
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, CNES, Toulouse, France
- N. André
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, CNES, Toulouse, France
- V. Génot
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, CNES, Toulouse, France
- R. F. Wimmer-Schweingruber
- 3Institut fuer Experimentelle und Angewandte Physik, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
- S. Barabash
- 4Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Kiruna, Sweden
- P. Brandt
- Applied Physics Laboratory, The Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, MD, United States
- R. McNutt
- Applied Physics Laboratory, The Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, MD, United States
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fspas.2023.1060618
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 10
Abstract
We highlight the importance of magnetic reconnection at the heliopause, both as one of the key processes driving the interaction between solar and interstellar media, but also as an element of the definition of the heliopause itself. We highlight the main observations that have fed the current debates on the definition, location and shape of the heliopause. We explain that discriminating between the current interpretations of plasma and magnetic field structures near the heliopause necessitates appropriate measurements which are lacking on Voyager 1 and 2, and describe some of the ensuing requirements for thermal plasma measurements on a future Interstellar Probe. The content of this article was submitted as a white paper contribution to the Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics 2024–2033 of the National Academy of Sciences.
Keywords
