After several months it
has become clear that out boundary layer is different and thick. As usual all previous guesses are rubbish.
Predicting when this
state of affairs may change again is obviously impossible.
As before, it is our
first clean glimpse of what may be the
bow wave in front of our sun.
Voyager 1 Entered Weird
Region In Space Last Summer
New
papers describe an unexpected boundary region at the edge of the influence of
the Sun.
Posted
06.28.2013
Voyager
1 entered a strange and unexpected part of space within the solar system last
August, scientists announced in three papers
published yesterday.
A
few different effects mark the area, which astronomers have dubbed the
"heliosheath depletion region" or a "magnetic highway." The
number of charged particles from the Sun there is very low. Measurements of
cosmic rays from other, non-Sun sources, are high. Together, the measurements
suggest a new boundary region between the heliosphere—the bubble around the
Sun, in which the Sun exerts its influence—and interstellar space. Astronomers
had not previously guessed such a region existed.
Regions
Away from the Sun: An illustration of regions at the edge of the
heliosphere through which Voyager 1 has journeyed. The heliopause is the border
between the heliosphere and intersteller space. Scientists don't know exactly
where that is, so it's shown with a question mark. NASA-JPL-Caltech
There's
been plenty of talk about the Voyager 1's travels lately. Astronomers have been
picking up these measurements over the past year. PopularScience.com posted
about an increase in cosmic rays last June and this past March.
Everyone
is excited for the Voyagers, which are the farthest human-made objects in
space, to leave the heliosphere and enter interstellar space. That hasn't
happened yet. Still, astronomers have picked up two of the three signs they
expected to see when Voyager 1 exists the heliosphere, NASA reported. Scientists aren't sure exactly
how large the heliosphere is, so they don't know when Voyager 1 will exit. It
may be months or years
The
Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft blasted off from Earth in 1977. They bore, among
their instruments, golden records with images and sounds including
silhouettes of a man and a woman, images of human architecture, greetings in 55
languages, 90 minutes of music and other images and audio from Earth. Voyager 1
is now more than 11 billion miles away from home, while the Voyager 2 is about
9 billion miles away from Earth. Voyager 2 hasn't yet encountered the weird
boundary region Voyager 1 has.
This is fantastic!
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