The Effects of a Local Interstellar Magnetic Field on Voyager 1 and 2 Observations
Abstract
We show that an interstellar magnetic field can produce a north-south asymmetry in the solar wind termination shock. Using Voyager 1 and 2 measurements, we suggest that the angle α between the interstellar wind velocity and the magnetic field is 30° < α < 60°. The distortion of the shock is such that termination shock particles could have streamed outward along the spiral interplanetary magnetic field connecting Voyager 1 to the shock when the spacecraft was within ~2 AU of the shock. The shock distortion is larger in the southern hemisphere, and Voyager 2 could be connected to the shock when it is within ~5 AU of the shock, but with particles from the shock streaming inward along the field. Tighter constraints on the interstellar magnetic field should be possible when Voyager 2 crosses the shock in the next several years.
Additional Information
© 2006 The American Astronomical Society. Received 2005 December 30; accepted 2006 February 7; published 2006 March 6. The authors would like to thank the staff at NASA Ames Research Center for the use of the Columbia supercomputer. Part of this work is the result of research performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.Attached Files
Published - 1538-4357_640_1_L71.pdf
Submitted - 0603318v1.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 48927
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20140826-133652365
- NASA/JPL/Caltech
- Created
-
2014-08-26Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Space Radiation Laboratory
- Other Numbering System Name
- Space Radiation Laboratory
- Other Numbering System Identifier
- 2007-03