Probing the Edge of the Solar System: Formation of an Unstable Jet-Sheet

Abstract

The Voyager spacecraft is now approaching the edge of the solar system. Near the boundary between the solar system and the interstellar medium we find that an unstable ``jet-sheet'' forms. The jet-sheet oscillates up and down due to a velocity shear instability. This result is due to a novel application of a state-of-art 3D Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code with a highly refined grid. We assume as a first approximation that the solar magnetic and rotation axes are aligned. The effect of a tilt of the magnetic axis with respect to the rotation axis remains to be seen. We include in the model self-consistently magnetic field effects in the interaction between the solar and interstellar winds. Previous studies of this interaction had poorer spatial resolution and did not include the solar magnetic field. This instability can affect the entry of energetic particles into the solar system and the intermixing of solar and interstellar material. The same effect found here is predicted for the interaction of rotating magnetized stars possessing supersonic winds and moving with respect to the interstellar medium, such as O stars.

arXiv comment9 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJL

References in corpus (3)

• Dynamical Simulations of Magnetically Channeled Line-Driven Stellar Winds: I. Isothermal, Nonrotating, Radially Driven Flow
• Observational Estimates for the Mass-Loss Rates of Alpha Centauri and Proxima Centauri Using HST Lyman-alpha Spectra
• Bow Shocks from Neutron Stars: Scaling Laws and HST Observations of the Guitar Nebula

Cited by in corpus (13)

• Stellar Lyman-alpha Emission Lines in the Hubble Space Telescope Archive: Intrinsic Line Fluxes and Absorption from the Heliosphere and Astrospheres
• Effects of a Local Interstellar Magnetic Field on Voyager 1 and 2 Observations
• The stellar wind cycles and planetary radio emission of the Tau Boo system
• A model of acceleration of Anomalous Cosmic Rays by Reconnection in the Heliosheath
• Extended MHD modeling of the steady solar corona and the solar wind
• Simulations of Winds of Weak-Lined T Tauri Stars. II.: The Effects of a Tilted Magnetosphere and Planetary Interactions
• Three-dimensional Numerical Simulations of Magnetized Winds of Solar-Like Stars
• Influence of surface stressing on stellar coronae and winds
• Simulations of Winds of Weak-Lined T Tauri Stars: The Magnetic Field Geometry and The Influence of the Wind on Giant Planet Migration
• Turbulence in the outer heliosphere
• Magnetic Effects at the Edge of the Solar System: MHD Instabilities, the de Laval nozzle Effect and an Extended Jet
• The development of a split-tail heliosphere and the role of non-ideal processes: a comparison of the BU and Moscow models
• Globally Distributed Energetic Neutral Atom Maps for the "Croissant" Heliosphere