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Fig. 4. | Earth, Planets and Space

Fig. 4.

From: Interstellar dust close to the Sun

Fig. 4.

Dust density distribution for 0.18 μm grains in the heliosphere rendered as the 3-D surfaces corresponding to factors of 2, 2.75, 3.5, 4.25 and 5 enhancement over the ambient density. The de-focusing SWMF case is shown on the left and the focusing SWMF polarity case is shown on the right. The focusing SWMF leads to enhanced density in a crescent shaped region near the ecliptic plane while the de-focusing field leads to concentration of the dust at the north and south ecliptic poles. The inner, nearly spherical surface is the solar wind termination shock. Note: the interstellar inflow comes from the lower left and flows toward the upper right. (Figure from Slavin et al., 2012).

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