Inhomogeneity within Local Interstellar Clouds
  Analysis of interstellar absorption lines observed in high-resolution {\em
HST} spectra of nearby stars provides temperatures, turbulent velocities, and
kinetic properties of warm interstellar clouds. Previous studies identified 15
warm partially ionized clouds within about 10~pc of the Sun and measured their
mean thermal and kinematic properties. A new analysis of 100 interstellar
velocity components reveals a wide range of temperatures and turbulent
velocities within the Local Interstellar Cloud (LIC) and other nearby clouds.
These variations appear to be random with Gaussian distributions. We find no
trends of these properties with stellar distance, angle from the Galactic
Center, the main source of EUV radiation (the star $\epsilon$~CMa), the center
of the LIC, or the direction of inflowing interstellar matter into the
heliosphere. The spatial scale for temperature variations in the LIC is likely
smaller than 5,100~au, a distance that the Sun will traverse in 1,000 years.
Essentially all velocity components align with known warm clouds. We find that
within 4~pc of the Sun, space is completely filled with partially ionized
clouds, but at larger distances space is only partially filled with partially
ionized clouds, indicating that fully ionized inter-cloud gas fills the voids.
We find that the neutral hydrogen number density in the LIC and likely other
warm clouds in the CLIC is about 0.10~cm$^{-3}$ rather than the 0.20~cm$^{-3}$
density that may be representative of only the immediate environment of the
LIC. The 3,000--12,000~K temperature range for the gas is consistent with the
predictions of theoretical models of the WNM and WIM, but the high degree of
inhomogeneity within clouds argues against simple theoretical models. Finally,
we find evidence for a shock in the sight line to the star AD~Leo.
