The Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research (CSPAR) at the University of Alambama at Huntsville (UAH) announces the Voyagers in the Heliosheath conference. Topic of discussion: Observations, models, and plasmas physics, to be held at the Sheraton Kauai Resort, Kauai, Hawaii. The conference will begin January 9-14, 2009.

Both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 have achieved historic milestones in crossing the heliospheric termination shock. Not surprisingly, observations returned by both spacecraft are raising significant challenges to our expectations and suggest that more sophisticated theories and models are needed. Some of these challenges relate to the energization of anomalous cosmic rays, the structure and properties of the termination shock, the character of waves and turbulence in the heliosheath, the large-scale structure of the heliosphere, the role of neutral interstellar hydrogen and energetic neutral atoms, and local interstellar medium characteristics. Further, the recent launch of IBEX with its ability to provide a global tomographic perspective combined with the in situ observations of Voyager will provide an excellent opportunity to relate detailed plasma physics to heliospheric structure. This meeting will provide the space physics and astrophysics communities the opportunity to confront the latest observational developments with the most recent theoretical modeling. We encourage participation from anyone interested in the global structure and physics of the outer heliosphere and the local interstellar medium. 

Please contact the conference chair, Qiang Hu, at qianghu@alum.dartmouth.org for more information.