| Name: Ayswarya Lakshmi D T |
| Affiliation: Thiagarajar College, Madurai |
| Conference ID: ASI2026_347 |
| Title: Energetic neutral atoms and solar-cycle variability: IBEX constraints on the heliosphere–interstellar medium interaction |
| Abstract Type: Poster |
| Abstract Category: Sun, Solar System, Exoplanets, and Astrobiology |
| Author(s) and Co-Author(s) with Affiliation: Ayswarya Lakshmi D T(Thiagarajar College (affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University), Madurai 625009, Tamil Nadu, India), Jawahar Raja Parthiban(Space Research Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences (CBK PAN), Warsaw, Poland.) |
| Abstract: The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) has provided more than a solar cycle of energetic neutral atom (ENA) all sky maps, enabling global imaging of the interaction region between the solar wind dominated heliosphere and the surrounding local interstellar medium (LISM). These maps reveal both a broadly distributed ENA flux and the prominent IBEX Ribbon, whose temporal evolution reflects changes in solar wind output and Heliospheric structure. In this project we investigate how solar cycle variability in near-Earth solar-wind conditions is imprinted in IBEX ENA fluxes at the heliosphere-LISM boundary.
We will select multiple IBEX map epochs spanning solar cycle 24 and, for a chosen ENA energy band, derive simple global metrics from each map: sky averaged ENA intensity, Ribbon averaged intensity, and low order spherical harmonic amplitudes describing large scale anisotropies. These ENA metrics will be compared with contemporaneous averages of insitu solar wind speed, density, and derived dynamic pressure, together with geomagnetic activity indices, compiled from operational space weather monitoring data sets. By correlating ENA flux variations with solar wind and activity proxies, we aim to quantify how changes in inner Heliospheric plasma conditions modulate ENA production in the outer heliosphere and very local interstellar medium.
The resulting constraints on the relationship between solar cycle dependent solar wind forcing and global ENA emission will help refine our understanding of the large scale heliosphere–interstellar medium interaction and provide context for future, higher resolution ENA observations by missions such as IMAP.
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