Unexpected activity on the edge of the Solar System

2010/01/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astrofisika
• Astronomia

Data sent by the IBEX probe will help to know the heliosphere

NASA's IBEX (Interestellar Boundary Explorer) probe has sent the first data on the heliosphere and has already brought surprises. The most prominent finding by experts has been the detection of violent spills of energy neutral atoms on the edge of the heliosphere, in a ribbon-shaped area.

The principal investigator of the IBEX probe, David McComas, has stated that none of the theories and models made so far foresaw this type of discharges. As they have explained, it seems that the formation of this tape is due to a magnetic field in interstellar space.

With the IBEX probe they want to know better the heliosphere, that is, the "bubble" that protects the solar system from interstellar cosmic rays (space zone exposed to the solar wind). McComas has stated that this discovery has revealed how little we know about it. And it is that experts do not have their form clear either. Before receiving data from IBEX, they believed it was shaped like a comet, but the data suggests that it looks more like an ovoid bubble.