Talk:Heliopause
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The 'heliopause' page talks about the distance to the heliopause being closer in the direction of the Sun's orbit around the galaxy. I would have thought that the intersteller medium would be travelling in the same orbit as the Sun. Wouldn't the heliopause be closer in the direction of the Sun's motion through the intersteller medium, which is NOT necessarily the same direction as the Sun's orbit?
WRT supersonic and subsonic: what exactly is the speed of sound in a medium in which there is no sound?!?
- Zero, of course, but those terms provide a useful point of reference in explaining such high speeds to the non-scientific. There are probably better terms, though I can't think of any right now. -- Jim Redmond 17:42, 6 Nov 2003 (UTC)
- I would have expected subsonic, in this context, to refer to the speed of sound in the solar wind (around 10 km/s, apparently). I'm pretty sure it's not related to the speed of sound in air. Sorry if that's what you meant and I just didn't get it. -- Prumpf 01:15, 10 Nov 2003 (UTC)
If it wouldn't be the speed of sound in the solar wind, the definition of the "termination shock" would be completely arbitrary.