December 23, 2009: The solar system is passing through an interstellar cloud that physics says shoul

December 23, 2009: The solar system is passing through an interstellar cloud that physics says should not exist.

science.nasa.gov

December 23, 2009: The solar system is passing through an interstellar cloud that physics says should not exist. In the Dec. 24th issue of Nature, a team of scientists reveal how NASA's Voyager spacecraft have solved the mystery.

see caption"Using data from Voyager, we have discovered a strong magnetic field just outside the solar system," explains lead author Merav Opher, a NASA Heliophysics Guest Investigator from George Mason University. "This magnetic field holds the interstellar cloud together and solves the long-standing puzzle of how it can exist at all."

(visit the link for the full news article)

The cloud is about 30 light years across, 6000 Celsius degrees and comes with a very strong electromagnetic field - field that keeps it together. And we are in the middle of this. The cloud seems to come from a cluster of supernova that exploded 10 million years ago. I still wonder what makes a cluster of stars to explode together

As my addition - maybe this explain the climate change detected on Neptune and Uranus, "Global Warming" that could not be assigned to the solar activity (nor human activity lol ) due to the large distance to Sun. A story that deserves further attention .

science.nasa.gov
(visit the link for the full news article)

Great...they said it shouldnt be there.

That means some religious extremist will be along any minute to say god did it.

This is fascinating stuff!

"The Voyagers are not actually inside the Local Fluff," says Opher. "But they are getting close and can sense what the cloud is like as they approach it."

Even more astounding that the Voyager's still have enough sunlight reaching their solar panels to power a transmission back to Earth, or that the equipment even still works!

The Fluff is held at bay just beyond the edge of the solar system by the sun's magnetic field, which is inflated by solar wind into a magnetic bubble more than 10 billion km wide. Called the "heliosphere," this bubble acts as a shield that helps protect the inner solar system from galactic cosmic rays and interstellar clouds. The two Voyagers are located in the outermost layer of the heliosphere, or "heliosheath," where the solar wind is slowed by the pressure of interstellar gas.

Wonder if the Voyager's can survive entry into the fluff!

Awaiting TPTB to announce a Global/Solar/Universal Warming that we are creating by farting intersteller dust. Cap and Trade here we come.....

Originally posted by watcher73
Great...they said it shouldnt be there.

That means some religious extremist will be along any minute to say god did it.

Only because the scientists didn't originally expect a magnetic field in the local fluff. No idea if there's an explanation as to why the material is magnetized - possibly linked to the multiple supernovae's over a short period of time.

Can we chalk this up as another example that astronomers don't know what the hell they're talking about half the time until it's too late?

Not "supposed" to be there simply means scientists were wrong.

reply to post by bsbray11


Yes, I agree. Scientists talk as though they have got it all figured out. They are so arrogant to say certain things aren't possible or likely or anything even of that nature, or that something isn't "supposed" to be somewhere. Well it just means they learned something new.

reply to post by john124


I am not sure is right for a cluster of stars to become supernovas ... thats interesting.

Certainly we do not understand magnetism very well , there is no way for Hydrogen to have magnetic proprieties . So it must be more stuff in that cloud. Or.. is there anything else behind the cloud ? what about.. some similar "creature" like a Black Hole ? what if the stars did Supernova due to a black-hole like event ? whatever is there, is interesting . I wonder how much time will take to get out of the cloud , and for how long we have been inside it..

[edit on 23-12-2009 by Romanian]

reply to post by watcher73


Ha Ha! Im not an extremist but ya I think God did it!

Originally posted by bsbray11
Can we chalk this up as another example that astronomers don't know what the hell they're talking about half the time until it's too late?

Not "supposed" to be there simply means scientists were wrong.

I remember when NASA (or whoever it was) said that they missed their prediction on the Solar Storm in 2012 by a factor of 20. I was speechless.

Originally posted by Kryties
Awaiting TPTB to announce a Global/Solar/Universal Warming that we are creating by farting intersteller dust. Cap and Trade here we come.....

Hey... I think your on to something!

Maybe it is the SpaceGoatFarts Entity from Web bot!!

Originally posted by Romanian


The cloud is about 30 light years across, 6000 Celsius degrees and comes with a very strong electromagnetic field - field that keeps it together. And we are in the middle of this. The cloud seems to come from a cluster of supernova that exploded 10 million years ago. I still wonder what makes a cluster of stars to explode together

6000 celcius !! Somehow I don't think we're in the middle of a gaseous cloud with the same temperature as the sun's photosphere ... would be a trifle warm if that were the case

The Sun's outer visible layer is called the photosphere and has a temperature of 6,000°C (11,000°F). This layer has a mottled appearance due to the turbulent eruptions of energy at the surface.

I am not sure where i heard it - the "reflection" index of Neptune increased about 25 times in the last few years. This would mean strong increase in the atmospheric activity on Neptune (and Uranus) , increase that could not be explained by the Solar activity as the Sun is too far to have a proper influence on Neptune. I wonder if this is true , or just modern POP culture? Anyone knows any link on the subject??

nice find s+f for you



nice to read that they still map something concrete out there
next phase would be stationery beacons for more mapping

reply to post by tauristercus


I agree, however the density of the gas is not the same with the density of the solar atmosphere. The density is VERY low + the solar wind keeps it away from us . But lol there is no guarantee that the density is constant along the way , so we have hope for some baking times - be optimistic!

Originally posted by john124
This is fascinating stuff!

"The Voyagers are not actually inside the Local Fluff," says Opher. "But they are getting close and can sense what the cloud is like as they approach it."

Even more astounding that the Voyager's still have enough sunlight reaching their solar panels to power a transmission back to Earth, or that the equipment even still works!

The Fluff is held at bay just beyond the edge of the solar system by the sun's magnetic field, which is inflated by solar wind into a magnetic bubble more than 10 billion km wide. Called the "heliosphere," this bubble acts as a shield that helps protect the inner solar system from galactic cosmic rays and interstellar clouds. The two Voyagers are located in the outermost layer of the heliosphere, or "heliosheath," where the solar wind is slowed by the pressure of interstellar gas.

Wonder if the Voyager's can survive entry into the fluff!

Absolutely! It's amazing the V-Ger spacecraft(s) continue to send back data - Were these made in Japan or what?

[edit on 23-12-2009 by Signals]

From the threat, it appears we are moving through the cloud, but we are not affected inside our protective shield...if I understand it right. That would account for why we do not feel the immediate effects of the 6000 degrees. However, a gradual warming could be the case, perhaps accounting for some of the global warming numbers....

how can something stay so hot in space without any fricking energy source?
6000C thats alot!

i bet there is more to it than thier "scientific" explaination - or its global warming in space lets tax it !!!!

got a link , talking about Neptune :

www.worldclimatereport.com...

I guess i was wrong saying Neptune is a LOT brighter, but id did get little brighter indeed.

I suspect that as we enter areas where the density of the cloud is bigger , we see the front-wave (contact between our heliosphere and the cloud) to retreat towards the Sun, so the effects on Neptune to be greater.


Oh, another question I have - when a Supernova happens, is not not like a core that suppose to be left over? If we have a "cluster of supernovas" , where are the left-overs?

Of course, still wonder what could trigger an ENTIRE cluster of stars to become supernovas.. lucky our SUN was ok lol