Exploring the Final Frontier of the Solar System

Edward C. Stone, David Morrisroe Professor of Physics; Vice Provost for Special Projects

In December 2004 at 94 AU, Voyager 1 crossed the shock marking the abrupt slowing of the supersonic solar wind and began exploring the interaction of the Sun with the surrounding interstellar medium. The turbulence in this interaction region is fundamentally different than that in the solar wind and acts as a barrier to the entry of lower energy galactic cosmic rays deeper into the heliosphere. In contradiction to many predictions that the shock was the source of medium energy anomalous cosmic rays, their intensity did not peak at the shock. Their intensity has, however, increased with increasing distance beyond the shock, indicating their origin remains to be discovered. Recent results from Voyager 2 at southern solar latitudes suggest that the shock may be ~10 AU closer than at Voyager 1 in the north, consistent with an asymmetric interaction induced by a local interstellar magnetic field. The Voyagers will provide more insight into this interaction and what lies beyond as they continue their journeys to interstellar space.