MORE EVIDENCE THAT VOYAGER 1 IS STILL IN THE HELIOSPHERE

Abstract

The investigators of the Voyager mission currently exploring the heliosheath have concluded and announced that Voyager 1 (V1) has crossed the heliopause and is now in the interstellar medium. This conclusion is based primarily on the plasma wave observations of Gurnett et al., which reveal a plasma electron density that resembles the density expected in the local interstellar medium. Fisk and Gloeckler have disputed the conclusion that V1 has crossed the heliopause, pointing out that to account for all the V1 observations, particularly the magnetic field direction together with the density, it is necessary to conclude that the higher densities observed by Gurnett et al. are due to compressed solar wind. In this Letter it is shown that the model of Fisk and Gloeckler for the nose region of the heliosheath can account in detail for the intensity and spectral shape of Energetic Neutral Hydrogen observed by the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) in the directions of V1 and Voyager 2 (V2). A key feature of the Fisk and Gloeckler model is the existence of a region in the heliosheath where the solar wind is compressed and heated, followed by a region where the solar wind is compressed but cold. Themore » region of cold compressed solar wind provides a unique explanation for the low-energy IBEX observations, and since this is the region where V1 must now reside, the low-energy IBEX observations provide strong evidence that V1 is still in the heliosphere.« less