Definition of "heliosphere" [heliosphere]

• The region of space through which the solar wind extends. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The heliosphere is immensely strong and extends far beyond the orbit of the dwarf planet Pluto."
• "Inside what is known as the heliosphere, the pressure from the energetic stream of charged particles emitted by the sun exceeds that in interstellar space."
• "It slows as it begins to collide with the interstellar medium, and the point where the solar wind slows down is the termination shock; the point where the interstellar medium and solar wind pressures balance is called the heliopause; the point where the interstellar medium, traveling in the opposite direction, slows down as it collides with the heliosphere is the bow shock."