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Title:
IBEX—Interstellar Boundary Explorer
Authors:
McComas, D. J.; Allegrini, F.; Bochsler, P.; Bzowski, M.; Collier, M.; Fahr, H.; Fichtner, H.; Frisch, P.; Funsten, H. O.; Fuselier, S. A.; Gloeckler, G.; Gruntman, M.; Izmodenov, V.; Knappenberger, P.; Lee, M.; Livi, S.; Mitchell, D.; Möbius, E.; Moore, T.; Pope, S.; Reisenfeld, D.; Roelof, E.; Scherrer, J.; Schwadron, N.; Tyler, R.; Wieser, M.; Witte, M.; Wurz, P.; Zank, G.
Affiliation:
AA(Southwest Research Institute), AB(Southwest Research Institute), AC(University of Bern, Physikalisches Institut), AD(Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences), AE(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), AF(University of Bonn), AG(Ruhr-Universität Bochum), AH(University of Chicago), AI(Los Alamos National Laboratory), AJ(Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center), AK(University of Michigan), AL(University of Southern California), AM(Moscow State University), AN(Adler Planetarium), AO(University of New Hampshire, Space Science Center), AP(Southwest Research Institute), AQ(Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University), AR(University of New Hampshire, Space Science Center), AS(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), AT(Southwest Research Institute), AU(Los Alamos National Laboratory), AV(Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University), AW(Southwest Research Institute), AX(Boston University), AY(Orbital Sciences Corporation), AZ(University of Bern, Physikalisches Institut), BA(Max Planck Institute Aeronomie), BB(University of Bern, Physikalisches Institut), BC(University of Alabama)
Publication:
Space Science Reviews, Volume 146, Issue 1-4, pp. 11-33 (SSRv Homepage)
Publication Date:
08/2009
Origin:
SPRINGER
Keywords:
Interstellar boundary, Termination shock, Heliopause, Energetic Neutral&nbsp, Atom, ENA, LISM
DOI:
10.1007/s11214-009-9499-4
Bibliographic Code:
2009SSRv..146...11M

Abstract

The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) is a small explorer mission that launched on 19 October 2008 with the sole, focused science objective to discover the global interaction between the solar wind and the interstellar medium. IBEX is designed to achieve this objective by answering four fundamental science questions: (1) What is the global strength and structure of the termination shock, (2) How are energetic protons accelerated at the termination shock, (3) What are the global properties of the solar wind flow beyond the termination shock and in the heliotail, and (4) How does the interstellar flow interact with the heliosphere beyond the heliopause? The answers to these questions rely on energy-resolved images of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs), which originate beyond the termination shock, in the inner heliosheath. To make these exploratory ENA observations IBEX carries two ultra-high sensitivity ENA cameras on a simple spinning spacecraft. IBEX’s very high apogee Earth orbit was achieved using a new and significantly enhanced method for launching small satellites; this orbit allows viewing of the outer heliosphere from beyond the Earth’s relatively bright magnetospheric ENA emissions. The combination of full-sky imaging and energy spectral measurements of ENAs over the range from ˜10 eV to 6 keV provides the critical information to allow us to achieve our science objective and understand this global interaction for the first time. The IBEX mission was developed to provide the first global views of the Sun’s interstellar boundaries, unveiling the physics of the heliosphere’s interstellar interaction, providing a deeper understanding of the heliosphere and thereby astrospheres throughout the galaxy, and creating the opportunity to make even greater unanticipated discoveries.
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