![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() This video explains how a solar wind particle becomes an energetic neutral atom detected by IBEX. The first of these is known as the termination shock. On its way to the very edge of our heliosphere, known as the heliopause, the solar wind passes through distinct layers. The heliosphere encases all the planets in our solar system and much of the space beyond them, separating the domain of our Sun from that of interstellar space.īut the solar wind’s journey from the Sun is not a smooth ride. “IBEX data pouring in over the next few years will let us chart the expansion and evolving structure of the other portions of the heliosphere’s outer boundaries.” From the Sun to the edge of the solar system - and backĪt the crux of the story are energetic neutral atoms – high-energy particles produced at the very edge of our solar system.Īs the solar wind flows out from the Sun at supersonic speeds, it blows up a bubble known as the heliosphere. “The results show that the 2014 solar wind pressure increase has already propagated from the Sun to the outer heliosphere, morphing and expanding our heliosphere’s boundaries in their closest direction,” said David McComas, the principal investigator for the IBEX mission at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. In two recent articles, scientists used IBEX data along with sophisticated numerical models to understand what these rebounding atoms can tell us about the evolving shape and structure of our heliosphere, the giant bubble carved out by the solar wind. Solar wind particles from the 2014 pressure increase had reached the edge of the heliosphere, neutralized themselves, and shot all the way back to Earth. Two years later, the Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft detected the first sign of the aftermath. For the first time in nearly a decade, the solar wind pressure - a combined measure of its speed and density - had increased by approximately 50 percent and remained that way for several years thereafter. ![]() In late 2014, NASA spacecraft detected a substantial change in the solar wind. What happens when the solar wind suddenly starts to blow significantly harder? According to two recent studies, the boundaries of our entire solar system balloon outward - and an analysis of particles rebounding off of its edges will reveal its new shape. An illustration depicting the layers of the heliosphere. ![]()
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