Strange Magnetic Bubbles at the Edge of the Solar System

A gem from NASA Heliophysics and the Science Visualization Studio. The sun's magnetic field spins opposite directions on the north and south poles. These oppositely pointing magnetic fields are separated by a layer of current called the heliospheric current sheet. Due to the tilt of the magnetic axis in relation to the axis of rotation of the Sun, the heliospheric current sheet flaps like a flag in the wind. The flapping current sheet separates regions of oppositely pointing magnetic field, called sectors. As the solar wind speed decreases past the termination shock, the sectors squeeze together, bringing regions of opposite magnetic field closer to each other. The Voyager spacecraft have now found that when the separation of sectors becomes very small, the sectored magnetic field breaks up into a sea of nested "magnetic bubbles" in a phenomenon called magnetic reconnection. The region of nested bubbles is carried by the solar wind to the north and south filling out the entire front region of the heliopause and the sector region in the heliosheath.
This discovery has prompted a complete revision of what the heliosheath region looks like. The smooth, streamlined look is gone, replaced with a bubbly, frothy outer layer.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Voyager
• nasa
• magnetic
• field
• bubbles
• cme
• sun
• solar
• solar system
• astronaut's
• camera
• planets
• galaxy
• cosmic
• rays
• milky
• way
• physics
• space
• universe
• energy
• ufo
• aliens
• alien
• moon
• earth
• venus
• mars
• mercury
• jupiter
• saturn
• uranus
• asteroids
• extra-solar
• exoplanet

[ThePhil0sopher]

It's nothing less than an atrocity that we'd rather fund the continual killing of each other rather than funding NASA and the exploration of space.

[machngunjoe]

Space Rip is so cool. 4 people still think the Earth is the center of the Universe

[EdyMar77]

Voyagers are real amazaing , an incredible achievement , 30 plus years and stills sending us data . there are new mesurements from the heliosphere taken today , chek out the NASA videos about the IBEX spacecraft .

[Atomium1990]

Can anybody explain me why the ionized interstellar wind blows from one single direction (or at least that shows the video) and not from every direction? It has something to do with the density of stars? More interstellar wind coming from the direction where the galaxy center is? Thanks for the answers and sorry for my English.

[Atomium1990]

@cyberbemon I want this music too. I saw the video in the official web and i'm here looking for the music xD

[paintballer058]

Aliens.

[TheMagicalTouch]

@CubertBeMySuitePee no, im serious... there was a study on that and it came out that a few years ago, about 70-80% of the people thoughed that sun rotatess around earth.

[CubertBeMySuitePee]

@TheMagicalTouch Please tell me you're not serious? Are you really that dumb?

[cyberbemon]

I want the musicccc . omg its sooo fucking awesomeeeee !!!!

[TheMagicalTouch]

@machngunjoe a few years ago most of the US still thoughed that the sun rotates around the earth...

[argh523]

@MypescpeTV While it can happen pretty apruptly, and the magnetic poles seem to have been moving a lot the last years, scientists don't take that as an indicator for the magnetic poles to shift.

It wouldn't be some catastrophic event. It wouldn't just completly disspear, just jump araound until it's back at north/south. Addidionally, in places where it's weak, the particles from space hitting our atmo would induce a field.

Machines get some problems, life / the planet doesn't care.

[MrBrianDunbar]

@SixFootTallMidget Thank you for the info.