Estimating the Thickness of the Heliosheath from CELIAS/HSTOF and Voyager 1 Data
Hsieh, K. C.; Hilchenbach, M.; Czechowski, A.; Kallenbach, R.; Kóta, J.
Poland, Germany, United States, Switzerland
Abstract
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 NH in the heliosheath. Our best estimate is NH=1.13×1014 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 nH=0.1 cm-3 in the heliosheath.