  Pickup ions (PUIs) play a crucial role in the heliosphere, contributing to
the mediation of large-scale structures such as the distant solar wind, the
heliospheric termination shock (HTS), and the heliopause. While magnetic
reconnection is thought to be a common process in the heliosphere due to the
presence of heliospheric current sheets, it is poorly understood how PUIs might
affect the evolution of magnetic reconnection. Although it is reasonable to
suppose that PUIs decrease the reconnection rate since the plasma beta becomes
much larger than $1$ when PUIs are included, we show for the first time that
such a supposition is invalid and that PUI-induced turbulence, heat conduction,
and viscosity can preferentially boost magnetic reconnection in heliospheric
current sheets in the distant solar wind. This suggests that it is critical to
include the effect of the turbulence, heat conduction, and viscosity caused by
PUIs to understand the dynamics of magnetic reconnection in the outer
heliosphere.
