Authors: Eric Zirnstein (Princeton University)

The IBEX mission is currently in its 17^th year of taking measurements of energetic neutral atom (ENA) emissions from the outer heliosphere. Every 6 months, IBEX creates a full map of the sky, and with well over a solar cycle of observations has shown behavior related to the solar cycle and other global, dynamic events originating from the Sun. In this presentation, I will be speaking about the possible physical processes responsible for creating and affecting ENA observations coming from inside the heliosheath and in the very local interstellar medium (VLISM), as well as improvements models need to compare better to IBEX observational data. ENAs are generated from interstellar PUIs that were accelerated at the termination shock or in the heliosheath. ENAs also come from outside the heliopause due to the “secondary ENA mechanism”, where IBEX (and soon IMAP) observes these ENAs preferentially from look directions perpendicular to the local interstellar magnetic field (i.e., the Ribbon). The parent ions in the heliosheath are strongly affected by dynamic changes in the SW, whether it be the solar cycle, GMIRs, or large changes in dynamic pressure such as the pressure pulse event in late 2014. The ribbon emissions follow the solar cycle, changes in the neutralized solar wind and heliosheath plasmas, and local processes such as turbulence. There are several avenues in which models can focus on or improve to better explain the evolution, asymmetries, and source processes responsible for ENA observations. Finally, I will also speak about the upcoming IMAP mission that will be launched later this year, which has significantly improved ENA-measuring capabilities.