The present volume provides a state-of-the-art synopsis of our current understanding of the dynamic heliosphere, the interstellar clouds surrounding it, the wider neighborhood of the local bubble, and their complex interactions. It is written by many of the researchers who have made key discoveries, observations, and modeling efforts that have led to dramatic progress in the field over the past 25 years. Thus the book is an essential research tool for space scientists and astronomers alike, including graduate students for whom it presents a single-point entrance into this complex yet fascinating field.

"Knowledge about the outer heliosphere and the interstellar medium, which were long treated as two separate fields, has improved dramatically over the past 25 years as a consequence of recent developments: The discovery of interstellar pickup ions and neutral helium inside the heliosphere, the determination of the interstellar hydrogen distribution in the heliosphere obtained using backscattered solar Lyman-alpha radiation, the prediction and subsequent detection of the hydrogen wall just outside of the heliopause, the development of detailed global models for the interaction of solar wind plasma with the interstellar medium, and most recently, direct in-situ plasma and field measurements inside of the heliosheath. At the same time, our understanding of the nearby galactic environment, including the composition and dynamics of the warm gas clouds and hot gas in the local bubble, has benefited greatly from absorption-line spectroscopy using nearby stars as background sources and dynamic modeling. The present volume provides a synopsis of these developments organised into seven sections: Dominant physical processes in the termination shock and heliosheath, three-dimensional shape and structure of the dynamic heliosphere, relation of the plasmas and dust inside and outside of the heliosphere, origin and properties of the very local interstellar medium, energy and pressure equilibria in the local bubble, physical processes in the multiphase interstellar medium inside of the local bubble, and the roles that magnetic fields play in the outer heliosphere and the local bubble. The last theme is probably the most basic of all as magnetic fields play important roles in most of the phenomena discussed here. The volume concludes with four papers providing the "big picture" by looking at the time evolution of both the heliosphere and the local bubble, looking beyond the local bubble, and finally addressing the challenges in modeling the interface between the two media."

Foreword.- Dedication to Dr. George Gloeckler.- The Solar Wind in the Outer Heliosphere.- Constraints on the Structure of the Heliospheric Interface Based on Ly? Absorption Spectra.- Influence of the Interstellar Magnetic Field and Neutrals on the Shape of the Outer Heliosphere.- Confronting Observations and Modeling: The Role of the Interstellar Magnetic Field in Voyager 1 and 2 Asymmetries.- The Dynamic Heliosphere: Outstanding Issues.- The Heliospheric Magnetic Field and Its Extension to the Inner Heliosheath.- Pickup Ion Acceleration at the Termination Shock and in the Heliosheath.- ENA Imaging of the Inner Heliosheath-Preparing for the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX).- Local Interstellar Parameters as They Are Inferred from Analysis of Observations Inside the Heliosphere.- Interplanetary Lyman ? Observations: Intensities from Voyagers and Line Profiles from HST/STIS.- Composition of Interstellar Neutrals and the Origin of Anomalous Cosmic Rays.- Neutral H Density at the Termination Shock: A Consolidation of Recent Results.- Is the Sun Embedded in a Typical Interstellar Cloud?.- Pressure and Ionization Balances in the Circum-Heliospheric Interstellar Medium and the Local Bubble.- The Solar Wind Charge-eXchange Contribution to the Local Soft X-ray Background.- Revising the Local Bubble Model due to Solar Wind Charge Exchange X-ray Emission.- Warm and Hot Gas in the Local ISM.- What Can Be Learned from X-ray Spectroscopy Concerning Hot Gas in the Local Bubble and Charge Exchange Processes?.- What Physical Processes Drive the Interstellar Medium in the Local Bubble?.- Plasma Turbulence in the Local Bubble.- Exotic Clouds in the Local Interstellar Medium.- The Local Bubble Debate.- The Origins and Physical Properties of the Complex of LocalInterstellar Clouds.- Physical Properties of the Local Interstellar Medium.- Perspectives on Interstellar Dust Inside and Outside of the Heliosphere.- Interstellar Dust Inside and Outside the Heliosphere.- Obtaining Spectra of Turbulent Velocity from Observations.- Properties and Selected Implications of Magnetic Turbulence for Interstellar Medium, Local Bubble and Solar Wind.- The Heliosphere in Time.- Some Observations Related to the Origin and Evolution of the Local Bubble/Local ISM.- Origin of the Local Bubble.- Kinetic-Fluid Perspective on Modeling the Heliospheric/Interstellar Medium Interface.- From the Heliosphere to the Local Bubble-What Have We Learned?.