NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) satellite collects data on energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) that can provide insight into the heliosphere boundary between our solar system and interstellar space. Using these data, scientists can construct maps of the ENA intensities (often, expressed in terms of flux) observed in all directions. The ENA flux observed in these maps is believed to come from at least two distinct sources: one source which manifests as a ribbon of concentrated ENA flux and one source (or possibly several) that results in a smoothly-varying globally-distributed flux. Each ENA source type and its corresponding ENA intensity map is of separate scientific interest. In this paper, we develop statistical algorithms for separating the total ENA intensity maps into two source-specific maps (ribbon and globally-distributed flux) and estimating corresponding uncertainty. Key advantages of the proposed method include enhanced model flexibility and improved propagation of estimation uncertainty. We evaluate the proposed methods on simulated data designed to mimic realistic data settings. We also propose new methods for estimating the center of the near-elliptical ribbon in the sky, which can be used in the future to study the location and variation of the local interstellar magnetic field.

翻译：NASA的星际边界探测器（IBEX）卫星收集高能中性原子（ENA）数据，可揭示太阳系与星际空间之间的日光层边界。利用这些数据，科学家能够构建所有方向上观测到的ENA强度（通常以通量表示）分布图。这些分布图中的ENA通量被认为源自至少两个不同的来源：一个来源表现为带状集中的ENA通量，另一个来源（或可能多个来源）则产生平滑变化的全球分布通量。每种ENA源类型及其对应的ENA强度图具有独立的科学价值。本文开发了统计算法，将总ENA强度图分离为两类源特定分布图（带状通量与全球分布通量），并估算相应不确定性。该方法的核心优势包括增强模型灵活性与改善估计不确定性的传播。我们基于模拟数据（模拟现实观测环境）评估所提方法，并进一步提出估算天空近似椭圆带状中心的新技术，未来可用于研究局地星际磁场的位置与变化。