ESTIMATING THE THICKNESS OF THE HELIOSHEATH FROM CELIAS/HSTOF AND VOYAGER 1 DATA

摘要

We use recent Voyager 1 measurements of the ion fluxes beyond the termination shock and the SOHO HSTOF/ CELIAS measured fluxes of the energetic neutral hydrogen and helium at 1 AU to estimate the neutral hydrogen column density N_H in the heliosheath. Our best estimate is N_H = 1.13 x 10~(14) cm~(-2). The result corresponds to an average thickness of the heliosheath, in the forward part of the heliosphere (within 155° from the nose direction and 17° from the ecliptic), of L ～ 75 AU for an average hydrogen density of n_H = 0.1 cm~(-3) in the heliosheath.