Related papers: Is the Sun Embedded in a Typical Interstellar Clou…
The low density interstellar medium (ISM) close to the Sun and inside of the heliosphere provides a unique laboratory for studying interstellar dust grains. Grain characteristics in the nearby ISM are obtained from observations of…
The influence of solar variability on climate is currently uncertain. Recent observations have indicated a possible mechanism via the influence of solar modulated cosmic rays on global cloud cover. Surprisingly the influence of solar…
Thousands of ring-like bubbles appear on infrared images of the Galaxy plane. Most of these infrared bubbles form during expansion of HII regions around massive stars. However, the physical effects that determine their morphology are still…
Measurements by dust detectors on interplanetary spacecraft appear to indicate a substantial flux of interstellar particles with masses exceeding 10^{-12}gram. The reported abundance of these massive grains cannot be typical of interstellar…
Tiny interstellar dust grains causing the polarization of light from the nearest stars are deflected sideways in the outer heliosheath regions, along with the interstellar magnetic field. Observations of optical polarization of stars beyond…
The dynamical state of the solar nebula depends critically upon whether or not the gas is magnetically coupled. The presence of a subthermal field will cause laminar flow to break down into turbulence. Magnetic coupling, in turn, depends…
Astrophysical fluids, including interstellar and interplanetary medium, are magnetized and turbulent. Their appearance, evolution, and overall properties are determined by the magnetic turbulence that stirs it. We argue that examining…
The Sun is located inside an extremely low density and quite irregular volume of the interstellar medium, known as the Local Cavity (LC). It has been widely believed that some kind of interaction could be occurring between the LC and Loop…
The interaction of dust grains originating from the local interstellar cloud with the environment inside the heliosphere is investigated. As a consequence of this interaction the spatial distribution of interstellar dust grains changes with…
The interaction of the heliosphere with interstellar clouds has attracted interest since the late 1920's, both with a view to explaining apparent quasi-periodic climate "catastrophes" as well as periodic mass extinctions. Until recently,…
We review what is currently known about the structure of interstellar material in the solar neighborhood, emphasizing how observations from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) have improved our understanding of how interstellar gas is…
The Solar neighborhood is the closest and most easily studied sample of the Galactic interstellar medium, an understanding of which is essential for models of star formation and galaxy evolution. Observations of an unexpectedly intense…
A disconcerting mismatch of thermal pressures for two media in contact with each other, (1) the warm, Circum-heliospheric Interstellar Medium (CHISM) and (2) the very hot material within a much larger region called the Local Bubble (LB),…
We propose a new method to constrain the actual state of the interstellar cloud that surrounds the solar system. Using Voyager UVS Lyman-alpha sky maps and the powerful principle of invariance, we derive the H distribution all along the…
Solar atmosphere is a single system unified by the presence of large-scale magnetic fields. Topological changes in magnetic fields that occur in one place may have consequences for coronal heating and eruptions for other, even remote…
High-resolution ultraviolet observations of nearby bright and faint stars are required to evaluate changes in the past and future galactic environments of the Sun, and the possibly impact of these changes on the interplanetary environment…
The temperature and density conditions in the magnetized photosphere and chromosphere of the Sun lead to a very small degree of atomic ionization. In addition, at particular height, the magnetic field may be strong enough to give rise to a…
We present new calculations of the photoionization of interstellar matter within ~5 pc of the Sun (which we refer to as the Complex of Local Interstellar Clouds or CLIC) by directly observed radiation sources including nearby hot stars and…
The interstellar medium within $\rm\approx 15 \; pc$ of the Sun consists of a complex of fifteen diffuse, partially ionized clouds. Located within the Local Bubble, these clouds, known as the Cluster of Local Interstellar Clouds (CLIC),…
The Sun is embedded in the so-called Local Bubble (LB) -- a cavity of hot plasma created by supernova explosions and surrounded by a shell of cold, dusty gas. Knowing the local distortion of the Galactic magnetic field associated with the…