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HST Observations of Heliospheric and Astrospheric Lyα Absorption Toward the α Cen System

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2016

B. E. Wood ,
J. L. Linsky  and
J. A. Valenti
B. E. Wood
Affiliation:
JILA, University of Colorado and NIST, Boulder, CO 80309-0440, USA
J. L. Linsky
Affiliation:
JILA, University of Colorado and NIST, Boulder, CO 80309-0440, USA
J. A. Valenti
Affiliation:
STScI, 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA

Abstract

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We use HST observations of the nearest star system (the α Cen system) to search for Lyα absorption from both heliospheric material around the Sun and analogous astrospheric material around the stars which has been heated by the collision between the solar/stellar winds and the interstellar medium. For α Cen A and B, both heliospheric and astrospheric absorption are detected, whereas for α Cen's distant companion star Proxima Cen only heliospheric absorption is detected, suggesting that Proxima Cen's astrosphere must be smaller and its wind therefore weaker than that of α Cen. Based on observations of these stars taken many years apart, we find that neither the heliospheric absorption nor the astrospheric absorption detected toward α Cen AB varies significantly.

Type
Session VII: Energetic Particles and the Local Interstellar Medium
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 203: Recent Insights into the Physics of the Sun and Heliosphere: Highlights from Soho and Other Space Missions , 2001 , pp. 599 - 601
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2001 

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