The ions then interact with the magnetic field, spiraling around the field lines. As the neutral hydrogen atoms carried by the solar wind cross the galactic magnetic field, it strips away the hydrogen's electrons, turning the atoms into charged particles known as ions. This ribbon arises because of the interaction of the solar wind with other cosmic phenomena. "The IBEX results are truly remarkable, with a narrow ribbon of bright details."įrom the start, IBEX revealed a puzzle: a strange, dense region of particles thereafter known as the IBEX ribbon. McComas, IBEX principal investigator and assistant vice president of the Space Science and Engineering division at Southwest Research Institute, said in a statement. "For the first time, we're sticking our heads out of the sun's atmosphere and beginning to really understand our place in the galaxy," David J. With every spin of the spacecraft, IBEX maps a single strip of the sky, with the entire sky mapped every six months. IBEX created its first map of the heliosphere over the summer of 2009. However, IBEX revealed that the tail region of the heliosphere doesn't extend as far as astronomers had thought.Īn artist's concept of our heliosphere, which is a bubble in space created by the solar wind and solar magnetic field. The tail extends out from our solar system farther than the other side, which is pushing forward through space in the direction of the sun's travel. The heliosphere isn't a perfect circle around our solar system instead it's shaped more like a teardrop, with a comet-like tail that drags behind the sphere as the sun moves through the Milky Way. Exactly when those craft will pass the boundary is uncertain, because the distance to the termination shock is ever-changing. Pioneer 10 and 11 will be the next spacecraft to cross over the border, followed by New Horizons. The Voyager 1 spacecraft crossed the border in 2004, and Voyager 2 crossed it in 2007. So far, only two spacecraft have traversed the termination shock. The outermost edge of the heliosphere is the heliopause, the final divide between the interstellar medium and the region of the sun's influence. The diameter of the termination shock changes based on the activity of the solar wind.īetween the termination shock and the heliopause is the heliosheath, the zone where solar wind particles are compressed and become turbulent as they interact with the interstellar medium that has breached the heliopause. This marks the outer limit of the sun's influence, where the solar wind particles begin traveling slower than the speed of sound. Within the heliosphere and around the solar system is the termination shock boundary. The solar wind carries charged particles from the sun, pushing against this gas and clearing out a bubble-like region around the solar system known as the heliosphere. Gas and dust fill the gaps between the stars - a region known as interstellar space. A bubble in spaceĪs the sun and its planets travel around the galaxy, they aren't moving through empty space. Its stable orbit will allow IBEX to continue to collect data far into the future, NASA said. Now, IBEX takes 9.1 days to complete an orbit. In 2011, IBEX moved from its spiral path to a new path that keeps the spacecraft out of the gravitational reach of the moon and is therefore more stable. However, this put IBEX in the range of the moon's gravity, and the slight tug from the moon shifted the spacecraft's orbit, making the orbit unstable. The IBEX research team then creates a map of where every particle came from.Īfter its launch, the spacecraft followed a series of oval orbits around the Earth, gradually spiraling. As the satellite spins, each device has the opportunity to gather ENAs from multiple directions. IBEX-Hi and IBEX-Lo sit perpendicular to the solar panels and collect neutral atoms all year long. As the spacecraft orbits Earth, it spins around in place about four times a minute while keeping its solar panels constantly pointed at the sun.
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