Over the years, scientists have sent various spacecraft to study the universe. Which is interesting to study, like what is the end of the solar system?
Is it possible to know the advantages of the solar system? The answer is yes, but it is underway. One of the latest developments, a 3D map of the edge of the solar system that took 13 years, revealed some secrets about a mysterious boundary called the outer heliosphere.
"The outer heliosphere marks the area of space where the solar wind, or stream of charged particles emitted from the Sun, 'bends and is shrouded back' by interstellar radiation that penetrates empty space outside the solar system. In other words, solar wind and particles between stars meet and form boundaries at the furthest distances from the solar system, "said Dan Reisenfeld, a space science researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
Earthlings first saw the outer edge of the solar system in 2012, when Voyager I, NASA’s spacecraft launched in 1977, crossed interstellar space. Voyager 2 also recorded not much different achievements. Voyagers 1 and 2 also reported a sharp decrease in solar particles and a large increase.
The new 3D map reveals even more about the heliosphere. Illustrated in a new 3D map, the inner layer (where the Sun and its planets are located) is round in shape and is estimated to extend around 90 astronomical units (AU) in all directions. It should be noted, one AU is the average distance between the Earth and the Sun, about 150 million kilometers.
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The outer layer is more or less symmetrical. In one direction, where the Sun continues to move through the space in front of it encountering cosmic radiation, the outer heliosphere extends around 110 AU, but in the opposite direction. The distance is much longer, at least 350 AU, according to Reisenfeld.
The outer heliosphere marks the area of space where the solar wind, or stream of charged particles emitted from the Sun, is “bent and re -enveloped” by interstellar radiation. Photo: NASA / JPL-Caltech
The lack of symmetry stems from the movement of the Sun through the Milky Way, as it attacks the rays of the galaxy in front of it and clears the space behind it.
"There's a lot of plasma (charged particles) in the interstellar medium, and the deep heliosphere, which is quite spherical, is a barrier to the flow of plasma flowing through it," Reisenfeld said.
“This has the same effect as water flowing around a rock in a river, with a stream of water hitting a rock in front and calm behind it,” he continued, giving an analogy.
Measurements for 3D maps were collected using the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX), launched in 2008. This is about bus tire measurements.
IBEX detects solar wind particles that have risen from the edge of the solar system, allowing Reisenfeld and his colleagues to determine the distance involved by measuring how long their round trip is.
“The sun sends a signal and then we passively wait for the signal to return from the outer heliosphere, and we use the time delay to determine where the outer heliosphere should be,” Reisenfeld explained.
As the Sun orbits the outer edge of the Milky Way, the solar wind blocks the cosmic rays, forming a protective bubble. This is good for us, because "radiation can damage spacecraft and can endanger the health of astronauts," Reisenfeld said.
However, the limits may not remain like this in the long run. Reisenfeld states that there is a relationship between the strength of the solar wind and the number of sunspots.
Sunspots are relatively dark areas that temporarily appear on the surface of the sun due to strong magnetic interference in them. From 1645 to 1715, the period known to solar observers as the Maunder minimum, there were few sun spots, and thus probably only weak solar winds.
"Sunspots have been missing for almost a century, and if true, the shape of the heliosphere could also change significantly," Reisenfeld said.
"We see variations in solar activity, and any other Maunder minimums can occur. It is reasonable to worry that the heliosphere, in shielding, could change over time," he explained.
To learn more about the heliosphere, NASA plans to launch a new mission called Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) in 2025. If all is planned, IMAP will reveal more details about the interaction between the solar wind and the Sun’s cosmic rays at the edge of the system. solar system.
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