"This is a shocking new result," says IBEX principal investigator Dave McComas of the Southwest Research Institute. "We had no idea this ribbon existed--or what has created it. Our previous ideas about the outer heliosphere are going to have to be revised."


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Although the ribbon looks bright in the IBEX map, it does not glow in any conventional sense. The ribbon is not a source of light, but rather a source of particles--energetic neutral atoms or ENAs. IBEX's sensors can detect these particles, which are produced in the outer heliosphere where the solar wind begins to slow down and mix with interstellar matter from outside the solar system.

"This ribbon winds between the two Voyager spacecraft and was not observed by either of them," notes Eric Christian, IBEX deputy mission scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "It's like having two weather stations, but missing the big storm that runs between them."

"IBEX is now making a second all-sky map, and we're eager to see if the ribbon is changing," says McComas. "Watching the ribbon evolve--if it is evolving--could yield more clues."

Stay tuned for updates

Originally posted by nixie_nox
reply to post by took24

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I don't know why society has lost its zest for space interest.

Originally posted by nixie_nox
reply to post by took24

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I don't know why society has lost its zest for space interest.

I wonder if this 'ribbon' of material is in line with the galactic plane or the "Dark Rift." I also wonder if this is a new formation, a reaction to some energy in-flux, or it was there all along and we just overlooked it.

Another interesting thing is that the Mayans told of a 'serpant rope' that would emerge from the center of the galaxy bringing forth a god of enlightenment...maybe connected in some way?

Where is it, in this 2 hour film that he explains the changes going on in the solar system*. I really don’t want to watch 2 hours of david wilcock