On the Possibility of a Strong Magnetic Field in the Local Interstellar Medium

We analyze the consequences of the local interstellar magnetic field being almost 3 times larger than the Galactic average (ordered) field on the structure of the heliospheric interface in the axisymmetric case when the field is parallel to the relative direction of motion between the local interstellar medium (LISM) and the Sun. A field of such strength is expected to exist in the Local Interstellar Cloud, if the latter condensed from material inside a magnetic flux tube rebounding from the wall of the Local Bubble cavity. The analysis is performed using a newly developed multifluid neutral MHD model. We show that the bow shock ahead of the heliopause still exists for supersonic and sub-Alfvénic LISM parameters. Our results agree well with the observations of the Lyα absorption spectra and yield positions of the termination shock and the heliopause similar to those obtained from the standard super-Alfvénic model.