Edge of Solar System Filled with Bubbles, NASA Says

The edge of our solar system is filled with a turbulent sea of magnetic bubbles, according to new NASA research.

Scientists made the discovery by using a new computer model, which is based on data from NASA's twin Voyager probes. The unmanned Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, which launched in 1977, are plying the outer reaches of our solar system, a region known as the heliosheath. The new discovery suggests that researchers will need to revise their views about the solar system's edge, NASA officials said. A more detailed picture of this region is key to our understanding of how fast-moving particles known as cosmic rays are spawned, and how they reach near-Earth space.

NASA hasn't revealed many details about the new find. The space agency will hold a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT on Thursday (June 9) to discuss it in more depth.
Source: www.space.com...

I can't help but say the song "Tiny Bubbles" keeps playing in my mind.

I am confused though. Are they saying there is an end to the Universe? Did we catch up to the forces of the Big Bang?

I assume the bubbles are created by gases---maybe a prelude to making a mass-which then begins to pick up space rocks and then forms a planet?

Help... I will be following this one on Thursday.

reply to post by anon72


Bubble universe theory says that there are many universes, perhaps connected by black holes, which are altogether a sort of "multi-verse". Some think that it was two of these universes, two higher dimensions, which collided to cause the Big Bang.

reply to post by Oozii


Dude where did you get that info please?

And, I always remember you because of your mini-pic/avatar. From one of my favorite threads I had started. LOVE IT.

Anyway, you got my interest with what you posted... I didn't see it in the article etc.

Have a great day.

No its not the end of the universe, its the edge of our solar system,
it sounds like the boundary of the solar winds and the deep space around us distorts magnetic fields in to a bubbly froth.
interesting none the less.
en.wikipedia.org...

The heliosheath is the region of the heliosphere beyond the termination shock. Here the wind is slowed, compressed and made turbulent by its interaction with the interstellar medium. Its distance from the Sun is approximately 80 to 100 astronomical units (AU) at its closest point; however, the heliosheath is shaped like the coma of a comet, and trails several times that distance in the direction opposite to the Sun's path through space. Scientific results in 2009 showed that model may be incorrect

The point where the solar wind slows down is the termination shock; the point where the interstellar medium and solar wind pressures balance is called the heliopause; the point where the interstellar medium, traveling in the opposite direction, slows down as it collides with the heliosphere is the bow shock.

reply to post by anon72


Yes... of course! "Bubbles" I cant believe i didnt realize already, "bubbles" its so obvious now! Ahh thank god for NASA, where would we be without them?

reply to post by sprocket2cog


Yes, you are correct. My bad... just waking up.

Solar System... duh.

Thanks

Yeah its all good, but it would be interseting to see a 3d model made of this as well
space always amazes me.

reply to post by anon72


Hey Anon,

I remember seeing a 2-hour show on the Universe, and this was something that was brought up in it.

Its pretty incredible how they say we are just one of these bubbles, and outside of it, are more bubbled universes.

As for the information, I forgot to post the video from youtube, there's a series of 5 videos about this, it might be the exact one I saw about 1 year ago.



The info is in the description of the video.

reply to post by sprocket2cog


NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) is currently trying to image the boundary of our solar system. IBEX uses energetic neutral atoms to create all-sky maps at various energies of the interaction of the heliosphere with interstellar space. IBEX has imaged a giant ribbon that seems to show a luminous body, the ribbon emits no light. Instead, it makes itself known via particles called "energetic neutral atoms" (ENAs)--mainly garden-variety hydrogen atoms. The ribbon emits these particles, which are picked up by IBEX in Earth orbit.

A strong magnetic field just outside the solar system could press against the heliosphere and interact with it in unknown ways. Will this strengthen our natural shielding—or weaken it? No one can say.

Well it certainly puts meaning to the phrase, "in your own little bubble"

On a serious note. I did watch something about this on Discovery channel a year or so ago. Very interesting, would like to hear more about this on Thursday.

Thanks

these magnetic (gravitational?) bubbles at the edge of the solar system might have formed due to the turbulence caused by the interaction of the solar wind against interstellar forces (winds, gravito-magnetic waves) in the heliosheath.

reply to post by Oozii


Bubbles? You mean we aren't in a marble on the collar of a cat, held by will smith, in the presence of tommy lee jones?

reply to post by Oozii


Man, you're killing me.

THANK YOU for coming back and adding.

I will check it out now.

Looks like some good stuff.

Originally posted by anon72

Scientists made the discovery by using a new computer model, which is based on data from NASA's twin Voyager probes.

Help... I will be following this one on Thursday.

When you go places you've never gone, don't be surprised if you see things you've never seen. The voyagers are entering unexplored territory, so frontier discoveries made by them are exciting!

I'll also be interested to see what NASA has to say on Thursday, though the last time I followed a big press release it was a claim about the origins of life and the possibility of ET life, and it was quite a disappointment as it turned out the claims might have been bogus. So I still have a bad taste in my mouth from that, but maybe this will be better.

reply to post by Illustronic


Well i for one along with you i'm sure Illustronic can't wait until the voyagers and/or pioneers reach the outsides of the heliosphere. Then maybe we might find some even more interesting details about intergalactic space.....

Who knows what kind of weird stuff might be outside of the Solar Systems purported Bubble(Heliosphere)

The Edge of the Heliosphere has 3 parts


Termination Shock Heliopause and Bow Shock
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/586f88b5099e.jpg[/atsimg]




[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/53f6789ee2f8.jpg[/atsimg]

Nasas Voyager to Leave Solar System in 5 Years Article 2011 April

5 Facts about Nasa Far Flung Voyager Spacecraft


Took me a while to find these articles thx guys appreciate the thread!!!!!!

Originally posted by TheUniverse
Termination Shock Heliopause and Bow Shock

Nice artwork, but I don't see any bubbles.

I guess they haven't had a chance to add those yet!

reply to post by anon72
Somehow I cannot envision that in my head,I would love to see a picture of it......
.....million and millions and millions of bubbles!

reply to post by anon72


So is it possible for the voyager to travel through this?

reply to post by onequestion


Dam, I hadn't even thought of that--can it get through it.

Well ATSers experts. Do the craft have enough power and/or strong enough to pass through?

Judging from this picture its a good thing the Voyages went left instead of right or it would take them a century to get out of the Heliosphere.

Maybe the 'bubbles' will create communications interferences.

Voyager 1 was the first spacecraft to explore its outer layer, when it crossed into the heliosheath in December 2004. As Voyager 1 made this historic passage, it encountered the shock wave that surrounds our solar system called the solar wind termination shock, where the solar wind is abruptly slowed by pressure from the gas and magnetic field in interstellar space.

Even though Voyager 2 is the second spacecraft to cross the shock, it is scientifically exciting for a couple of reasons. The Voyager 2 spacecraft has a working plasma science instrument that can directly measure the velocity, density and temperature of the solar wind. This instrument is no longer working on Voyager 1, and estimates of the solar wind speed had to be made indirectly. Secondly, Voyager 1 may have had only a single shock crossing, and it happened during a data gap. But Voyager 2 had at least five shock crossings over a couple of days (the shock "sloshes" back and forth like surf on a beach, allowing multiple crossings), and three of them are clearly in the data. They show us an unusual shock. In a normal shock wave, fast-moving material slows down and forms a denser, hotter region as it encounters an obstacle. However, Voyager 2 found a much lower temperature beyond the shock than was predicted.

Clearly its the shock 'sloshing' back and forth like surf on a beach that's creating these bubbles.

Don't you just love the terminology of physicists? Bubbles, dark energy, strong force, weak force, Big Bang, dark matter, worm hole and pi?