Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41114420›Full record

ArticleNature astronomy2025

Global heliospheric termination shock strength in the solar-interstellar interaction.

E J Zirnstein, R Kumar, B L Shrestha, P Swaczyna, M A Dayeh, J Heerikhuisen, J R Szalay

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature astronomy, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

E J ZirnsteinDepartment of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7240-0618
R KumarPrinceton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ USA.
B L ShresthaDepartment of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ USA.ORCID 0000-0002-5247-4107
P SwaczynaDepartment of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9033-0809
M A DayehSouthwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX USA.
J HeerikhuisenDepartment of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0001-7867-3633
J R SzalayDepartment of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2685-9801

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A heliospheric termination shock (HTS) surrounds our Solar System at approximately 100 astronomical units from the Sun, where the expanding solar wind (SW) is compressed and heated before encountering the interstellar medium. HTS-accelerated particles govern the pressure balance with the interstellar medium, but little is known about the global properties of the HTS beyond in situ measurements from Voyager in only two directions of the sky. Here we fill this gap by extracting the HTS strength using particle-in-cell, test particle and magnetohydrodynamic simulations, constrained by Interstellar Boundary Explorer observations of energetic neutral atoms produced from HTS-accelerated particles. Our results reveal there is a higher compression near the poles during solar minimum compared with solar maximum due to the higher Mach number flow. North-south asymmetries arise from the disparate evolution of the polar coronal holes, while minimum compression near the flanks is probably due to SW slowing from mass loading over a greater distance to the HTS. The results imply a strong connection between the HTS strength and the SW and interstellar medium dynamics.

Indexed as

Astrophysical plasmasSpace physicsTheoretical particle physics

Identifiers

PMID41114420
PMCPMC12534181

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.