The intrinsic properties of the local interstellar medium
نویسندگان
چکیده
We propose a new method to constrain the actual state of the interstellar cloud that surrounds the solar system. Using Voyager UVS Lyman-α sky maps and the powerful principle of invariance, we derive the H distribution all along the spacecraft path. Provided current models of the heliopause interface between the solar and the interstellar winds, we extrapolate this distribution to farther distances from the Sun and infer in a self consistent way key parameters of the local cloud. Our findings are a high interstellar hydrogen density of ∼ 0.24 cm and a weak ionization n(H ) n(H+)+n(H) ' 14%.
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