Related papers: Large-scale Interstellar Structure and the Heliosp…
We present an empirical dynamical model of the local interstellar medium based on 270 radial-velocity measurements for 157 sight lines toward nearby stars. Physical-parameter measurements (i.e., temperature, turbulent velocity, depletions)…
The nature of the Local Interstellar Cloud (LIC) is highly constrained by the combination of in situ heliospheric and line-of-sight data towards nearby stars. We present a new interpretation of the LIC components of the absorption line data…
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…
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…
The magnetic field in the local interstellar medium does not follow the large-scale Galactic magnetic field. The local magnetic field has probably been distorted by the Local Bubble, a cavity of hot ionized gas extending all around the Sun…
We describe the interface between the outer heliosphere and the local interstellar medium (LISM) surrounding the Sun. The components of the inner LISM are the four partially ionized clouds [the Local Interstellar Cloud (LIC), G cloud, Blue…
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…
This paper reviews past research and new studies underway of the local interstellar environment and its changing influence on the heliosphere. The size, shape, and physical properties of the heliosphere outside of the heliopause are…
Aims: We offer a new, simpler picture of the local interstellar medium, made of a single continuous cloud enveloping the Sun. This new outlook enables the description of a diffuse cloud from within and brings to light some unexpected…
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…
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 gas-to-dust mass ratios found for interstellar dust within the Solar System, versus values determined astronomically for the cloud around the Solar System, suggest that large and small interstellar grains have separate histories, and…
Combined heliosphere-astronomical data and models enrich our understanding both of effects the solar galactic environment might have on the inner heliosphere, and of interstellar clouds. Present data suggest that FeII/DI increases toward…
Analysis of interstellar absorption lines observed in high-resolution {\em HST} spectra of nearby stars provides temperatures, turbulent velocities, and kinetic properties of warm interstellar clouds. Previous studies identified 15 warm…
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 development of our understanding of the gaseous component of the interstellar medium is reviewed. During the 20th century our picture of diffuse material in space has grown from a simple model of isolated clouds in thermal equilibrium…
The thermal and chemical phases of the cool component of interstellar gas are discussed. Variations with galactocentric radius and from galaxy to galaxy are mostly the result of changes in the ambient interstellar pressure and radiation…
A structure formed by dust particles ejected from the debris ring around HD 61005 is observed in the scattered light. The main aim here is to constrain interstellar wind parameters that lead to shape morphology in the vicinity of HD 61005…
Interstellar bubbles are structures in the interstellar medium with diameters of a few to tens of parsecs. Their progenitors are stellar winds, intense radiation of massive stars, or supernova explosions. Star formation and young stellar…
The orientation of the local interstellar magnetic field introduces asymmetries in the heliosphere that affect the location of heliospheric radio emissions and the streaming direction of ions from the termination shock of the solar wind. We…