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Satellite reveals surprising cosmic 'weather' at edge of solar system
October 19, 2009The first solar system energetic particle maps show an unexpected landmark occurring at the outer edge of the solar wind bubble surrounding the solar system. Scientists published these maps, based mostly on data collected from NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer satellite, in the Oct. 15 issue of Science Express, the advance online version of the journal Science.
"Nature is full of surprises, and IBEX has been lucky to discover one of those surprises," said Priscilla Frisch, a senior scientist in astronomy & astrophysics at the University of Chicago. "The sky maps are dominated by a giant ribbon of energetic neutral atoms extending throughout the sky in an arc that is 300 degrees long." Energetic neutral atoms form when hot solar wind ions (charged particles) steal electrons from cool interstellar neutral atoms.
The new maps show how high-speed cosmic particle streams collide and mix at the edge of the heliosphere, said Frisch, who co-authored three of a set of IBEX articles appearing in this week's Science Express. The outgoing solar wind blows at 900,000 miles an hour, crashing into a 60,000-mile-an-hour "breeze" of incoming interstellar gas.
Revealed in the IBEX data, but not predicted in the theoretical heliosphere simulations of three different research groups, was the ribbon itself, formed where the direction of the interstellar magnetic field draping over the heliosphere is perpendicular to the viewpoint of the sun.
Energetic protons create forces as they move through the magnetic field, and when the protons are bathed in interstellar neutrals, they produce energetic neutral atoms. "We're still trying to understand this unexpected structure, and we believe that the interstellar magnetic forces are associated with the enhanced ENA production at the ribbon," Frisch said.
IBEX shows that energetic neutral atoms are produced toward the north pole of the ecliptic (the plane traced by the orbit of the planets around the sun), as well as toward the heliosphere tail pointed toward the constellations of Taurus and Orion. "The particle energies change between the poles and tail, but surprisingly not in the ribbon compared to adjacent locations," Frisch said.
University of Chicago
Heliosphere Current Events and Heliosphere News RSSIBEX satellite finds ribbon-like structure at edge of heliosphere
The invisible structures of space are becoming less so, as scientists look out to the far edges of the solar wind bubble that separates our solar system from the interstellar cloud through which it flies.
Cassini Helps Redraw Shape of Solar System
In a paper published Oct. 15 in Science, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) present a new view of the region of the sun's influence, or heliosphere, and the forces that shape it. Images from one of the Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument's sensors, the Ion and Neutral Camera (MIMI/INCA), on NASA's Cassini spacecraft suggest that the heliosphere may not have the comet-like shape predicted by existing models.
IBEX discovers that galactic magnetic fields may control the boundaries of our solar system
The first all-sky maps developed by NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft, the initial mission to examine the global interactions occurring at the edge of the solar system, suggest that the galactic magnetic fields had a far greater impact on Earth's history than previously conceived, and the future of our planet and others may depend, in part, on how the galactic magnetic fields change with time.
Cosmic Rays Hit Space Age High
Planning a trip to Mars? Take plenty of shielding. According to sensors on NASA's ACE (Advanced Composition Explorer) spacecraft, galactic cosmic rays have just hit a Space Age high.
Solar Cycle Driven by More than Sunspots; Sun Also Bombards Earth with High-Speed Streams of Wind
Challenging conventional wisdom, new research finds that the number of sunspots provides an incomplete measure of changes in the Sun's impact on Earth over the course of the 11-year solar cycle.
NASA spacecraft ready to explore outer solar system
The first NASA spacecraft to image and map the dynamic interactions taking place where the hot solar wind slams into the cold expanse of space is ready for launch Oct. 19. The two-year mission will begin from the Kwajalein Atoll, a part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Voyager 2 Proves the Solar System is Squashed
NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft has followed its twin Voyager 1 into the solar system's final frontier, a vast region at the edge of our solar system where the solar wind runs up against the thin gas between the stars.
Computer simulation predicts Voyager 2 will reach major milestone in space in late 2007-early 2008
Using a computer model simulation, Haruichi Washimi, a physicist at UC Riverside, has predicted when the interplanetary spacecraft Voyager 2 will cross the "termination shock," the spherical shell around the solar system that marks where the solar wind slows down to subsonic speed.
Voyager data may reveal trajectory of solar system
Nearly 30 years after launch, the two Voyager spacecraft are still operational and returning useful data. In their early years they produced some of the first close up images of the large outer planets.
AGU Journal European highlights - 30 October 2002
The following highlights summarize research papers in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL) and Paleoceanography (PA). The papers related to these Highlights will be printed in the next paper issues of the respective journals following their electronic publication.
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Voyager 2 Spacecraft Studies the Outer Limits of the Heliosphere , 144x96 by Art.com Art.com is the world's largest retailer of art prints, posters, photographs, and framed artwork. With our huge selection of over 400,000 prints, you'll easily find the perfect piece for your home, office, or classroom. Our art is printed on quality paper. When you order framed artwork, the piece is built by our team of in-house professionals. Visit our Amazon store today at www.amazon.com/artdotcom to find Special Offers and search for products based on 'Artist Name' and 'Subject Categories' such as Movie, Music, Vintage, TV, Children, Travel, Kitchen, Museum Art, Animals, Floral, Motivational, and Sports. Art.com is dedicated to providing you with high quality products and service by offering you 100% satisfaction guaranteed. We ship internationally to over 80 countries. Decorate your... |
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