Abstract
PHOTOMETRIC observations can be used to measure the velocity of the Solar System through an interstellar medium and also provide an accurate method of measuring the temperature of that medium, provided that a very narrow filter is used in order to determine the emission linewidth. We present here the results obtained using a hydrogen absorption cell in conjunction with a Lyman-α photometer contained in the Soviet scientific spacecraft Prognoz-5 which was launched in November 1976. We use only the Lα results to measure the temperature of the interplanetary–interstellar hydrogen. The high result we obtained indicates that the Solar System may be moving through an intercloud medium heated by cosmic- or soft X-rays.
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BERTAUX, J., BLAMONT, J., MIRONOVA, E. et al. Temperature measurement of interplanetary–interstellar hydrogen. Nature 270, 156–158 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/270156a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/270156a0
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