Editor's Summary
3 July 2008
Leaving the heliosphere: Voyager 2 reports back
On 30 August 2007 Voyager 2 began to cross the termination shock, a boundary produced by the interaction of the Sun with the rest of the Galaxy, where the supersonic solar wind abruptly slows as it presses outward against the surrounding interstellar matter. Six Letters in this issue present the data that the probe sent back. The Voyager 2 crossings occurred about 1.5 billion kilometres closer to the Sun than those of Voyager 1, illustrating the asymmetry of the heliosphere. The results from the plasma experiment, low-energy particle, cosmic ray, magnetic field and plasma-wave detectors reveal a complex and dynamic shock, reforming itself in hours rather than days. It may be decades before another probe crosses the termination shock but remote observations can now bridge the gap — as shown by Wang et al. who report measurements of energetic neutral atoms in the heliosheath from the STEREO A and B spacecraft that complement the Voyager in situ observations made at the same time. In News & Views, J R Jokipii puts the Voyager findings into context. For more on the Voyager odyssey, see page 24, and the Author page, and go to the movie on http://www.nature.com/nature/videoarchive/voyager.
Letter: Cool heliosheath plasma and deceleration of the upstream solar wind at the termination shock
John D. Richardson, Justin C. Kasper, Chi Wang, John W. Belcher & Alan J. Lazarus
doi:10.1038/nature07024
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (699K)
Letter: Mediation of the solar wind termination shock by non-thermal ions
R. B. Decker, S. M. Krimigis, E. C. Roelof, M. E. Hill, T. P. Armstrong, G. Gloeckler, D. C. Hamilton & L. J. Lanzerotti
doi:10.1038/nature07030
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (557K)
Letter: An asymmetric solar wind termination shock
Edward C. Stone, Alan C. Cummings, Frank B. McDonald, Bryant C. Heikkila, Nand Lal & William R. Webber
doi:10.1038/nature07022
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (584K)
Letter: Magnetic fields at the solar wind termination shock
L. F. Burlaga, N. F. Ness, M. H. Acuña, R. P. Lepping, J. E. P. Connerney & J. D. Richardson
doi:10.1038/nature07029
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (470K)
Letter: Intense plasma waves at and near the solar wind termination shock
D. A. Gurnett & W. S. Kurth
doi:10.1038/nature07023
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (301K)
Letter: Domination of heliosheath pressure by shock-accelerated pickup ions from observations of neutral atoms
Linghua Wang, Robert P. Lin, Davin E. Larson & Janet G. Luhmann
doi:10.1038/nature07068
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (684K) | Supplementary information
Authors: Abstractions
doi:10.1038/7200xib
News Feature: Scientific exploration: What a long, strange trip it's been
Launched in 1977, NASA's Voyager missions transformed humanity's view of the Solar System. Now in their fourth decade, they are sending back information about the borderlands of interstellar space (see pages 63�83). Here, three veterans recall details and moments that meant something special along the way.
doi:10.1038/454024a
