For more than five decades, the shape and interactions of the heliosphere with the local interstellar medium have been discussed in the context of two competing models, posited in 1961 1 : a magnetosphere-like heliotail and a more symmetric bubble shape. Although past models broadly assumed the magnetosphere-like concept, the accurate heliospheric configuration remained largely undetermined due to lack of measurements. In recent years, however, Voyagers 1 and 2 (V1 and V2) crossed the termination shock -the boundary where the solar wind drops -north and south of the ecliptic plane at 94 au 2,3 and 84 au 4 in 2004 and 2007, respectively, and discovered the reservoir of ions and electrons that constitute the heliosheath, while Cassini remotely imaged the heliosphere 5 for the first time in 2003. Here we report 5.2-55 keV energetic neutral atom (ENA) global images of the heliosphere obtained with the Cassini/Ion and Neutral Camera (INCA). We compare them with 28-53 keV ions measured within the heliosheath by the low-energy charged particle (LECP) experiment onboard V1 and V2 over an 11-year period (2003-2014). We show that the heliosheath ions are the source of ENA. These observations also demonstrate that the heliosphere responds promptly, within ~2-3 years, to outward propagating solar wind changes in both the nose and tail directions. These results, together with the V1 measurement of a ~0.5 nT interstellar magnetic field 6 and the enhanced ratio between particle pressure and magnetic pressure in the heliosheath 7 , strongly suggest a diamagnetic bubble-like heliosphere with few substantial tail-like features. Our results are consistent with recent modelling 8-11 .Charge exchange between ions and the neutral hydrogen gas flowing through the heliosheath generates the energetic neutral atoms (ENA) that are sensed remotely by Cassini/INCA (see Methods), and enable images of the celestial sphere 12 that place the local measurements by each Voyager in a global context (see Methods). A conceptual representation of our ENA observations in a three-dimensional format, together with key heliospheric boundaries identified by the two Voyagers, is illustrated in Fig. 1a. Unlike the tail-like heliosphere model (Fig. 1b) adopted following Parker's 1961 1 calculations using a subsonic, incompressible hydrodynamic stellar wind flow (referred to henceforth as 'Parker 1'), Fig. 1a does not include an extension of the heliosphere in the heliotail ('anti-nose') direction. This resultthat is, the rough 'tail to anti-nose' symmetry in Fig. 1a -has been made possible by the correlation of 11 years of INCA ENA images and in situ V1/V2 ion measurements with the long-term variability of solar cycles 23 and 24. We infer that the heliosphere is consistent with Parker's 1961 'alternative' notion (henceforth 'Parker 2'), which presents a bubble-like structure formed under the influence of a large-scale interstellar magnetic field (depicted by the grey lines in Fig. 1a) that confines the heliosheath plasma nearly symmetrically in all directions...

[1] We report sample results on Saturn magnetospheric energetic ion spectral shapes using measurements obtained from the Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI) suite onboard Cassini. The ion intensities are measured by the Charge Energy Mass Spectrometer (CHEMS) that covers the energy range of 3 to 236 keV/e, the Low Energy Magnetospheric Measurements System (LEMMS) covering the energy range of 0.024 < E < 18 MeV, and the Ion Neutral Camera (INCA) that provides ion measurements in the ion mode at the energy range $5.5 to >220 keV for protons. The data used cover several passes from the period 1 July 2004 to 10 April 2007, at various latitudes over the dipole L range 5 < L < 20 R S . The spectra generally show a power law in energy form at larger L values but display a flattening/relative peak at lower (L < 10) values centered at $50 to $100 keV and can be fit by a k distribution function with characteristic kT ranging from $10 to $100 keV. The results are consistent with the assumption that energetic protons are heated adiabatically as they move inward to stronger magnetic fields, in contrast to the singly ionized oxygen that seems to be heated locally at each L shell. The lack of any trend of the O + temperature versus L shell implies that nonadiabatic energization mechanisms and charge exchange with Saturn's neutral gas cloud play an important role for ion energetics.

Planetary magnetospheres receive plasma and energy from the Sun or moons of planets and consequently stretch magnetic field lines. The process may last for varied timescales at different planets. From time to time, energy is rapidly released in the magnetosphere and subsequently precipitated into the ionosphere and upper atmosphere. Usually, this energy dissipation is associated with magnetic dipolarization in the magnetosphere.This process is accompanied by plasma acceleration and field-aligned current formation, and subsequently auroral emissions are often significantly enhanced. Using measurements from multiple instruments on board the Cassini spacecraft, we reveal that magnetic dipolarization events at Saturn could reoccur after one planetary rotation and name them as recurrent dipolarizations. Three events are presented, including one from the dayside magnetosphere, which has no known precedent with terrestrial magnetospheric observations. During these events, recurrent energizations of plasma (electrons or ions) were also detected, which clearly demonstrate that these processes shall not be simply attributed to modulation of planetary periodic oscillation, although we do not exclude the possibility that the planetary periodic oscillation may modulate other processes (e.g., magnetic reconnection) which energizes particles. We discuss the potential physical mechanisms for generating the recurrent dipolarization process in a comprehensive view, including aurora and energetic neutral atom emissions. Plain Language SummaryUsing measurements from the Cassini spacecraft, we reveal a new feature of magnetic dipolarization at Saturn, that is, the magnetic signature repeat after one planetary rotation, which is named recurrent dipolarization. Up to hundreds of kiloelectron volt electrons and ions are identified for the recurrent dipolarization events, suggesting that these particles have experienced efficient acceleration and cannot be purely due to planetary modulation. It remains a mystery why the magnetic dipolarization process associated with energetic ions and electrons could reoccur after one planetary rotation. Moreover, dipolarization process in Saturn's dayside magnetosphere is reported for the first time at Saturn, which has no known precedent with terrestrial or other planetary magnetospheric observations. The results demonstrate that magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling dynamics at Saturn and Earth have fundamental similarities and differences.

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