Magnetic Bubbles Reside at Solar System Edge, NASA Probes Suggest

this is very interesting
it would sound like there is a froth of magnetically created "bubbles" in the space between our helio-sphere and interstella space.

ScienceDaily (June 9, 2011) — Observations from NASA's Voyager spacecraft, humanity's farthest deep space sentinels, suggest the edge of our solar system may not be smooth, but filled with a turbulent sea of magnetic bubbles.

source

Nasa page with vid

According to computer models, the bubbles are large, about 100 million miles wide, so it would take the speedy probes weeks to cross just one of them. Voyager 1 entered the "foam-zone" around 2007, and Voyager 2 followed about a year later. At first researchers didn't understand what the Voyagers were sensing--but now they have a good idea.

"The sun's magnetic field extends all the way to the edge of the solar system," explains Opher. "Because the sun spins, its magnetic field becomes twisted and wrinkled, a bit like a ballerina's skirt. Far, far away from the sun, where the Voyagers are now, the folds of the skirt bunch up."

When a magnetic field gets severely folded like this, interesting things can happen. Lines of magnetic force criss-cross, and "reconnect". (Magnetic reconnection is the same energetic process underlying solar flares.) The crowded folds of the skirt reorganize themselves, sometimes explosively, into foamy magnetic bubbles.

nasa source

this is a very interesting finding and adds to our knowledge of our local solar system and its interaction with the galaxy outside our protective "bubble"




the "bubbles" are very interesting for many reasons including the magnetic nature of the medium
the optical properties the "bubbles" may have
and how and what forms these "bubbles"



credit NASA source see link

Says Drake: "We are still trying to wrap our minds around the implications of these findings."

The structure of the sun's distant magnetic field—foam vs. no-foam—is of acute scientific importance because it defines how we interact with the rest of the galaxy. Researchers call the region where the Voyagers are now "the heliosheath." It is essentially the border crossing between the Solar System and the rest of the Milky Way. Lots of things try to get across—interstellar clouds, knots of galactic magnetism, cosmic rays and so on. Will these intruders encounter a riot of bubbly magnetism (the new view) or graceful lines of magnetic force leading back to the sun (the old view)?

NASA source

the information is stunning
there is a large reigion where magnetic forces "snap" and form "bubbles" up to 100 million kms wide
the bubbles can affect high energy rays from outside our protective bubble.
the energetic nature of the medium is unexpected and will require extensive study
this "boundry of bubbles" could have some interesting considerations for how light "bounces" around before entering our helio shock "bubble"
radio echos and xrays are bouncing around and it could be that these "bubbles" are "channeling" the energy in very unexpected ways.

this really does change the way we see the universe

The magnetic bubbles appear to be our first line of defense against cosmic rays," points out Opher. "We haven't figured out yet if this is a good thing or not."

On one hand, the bubbles would seem to be a very porous shield, allowing many cosmic rays through the gaps. On the other hand, cosmic rays could get trapped inside the bubbles, which would make the froth a very good shield indeed.

this could be a very important finding on how the universe is understood by us

xploder

reply to post by XPLodER


ahh thought you would be on the case, i not long posted it on your other bubbly thread , interesting stuff aye what !

bubbleBox

reply to post by funbox


from many veiw points this is really stunning
from an optical point of veiw, does this affect the optical information we receive inside our "bubble"
from an electrical point of veiw, does this influence the amount of "energy" coming and going from our solar bubble?
the foamy nature of the medium would have distinct optical implications

here is a pic i did a while back for one of my "bubble" threads



the picture is intended to show a helio-sphere lense inside a galaxy lens
the yellow area around the helio sphere is intended to represent a "different" medium density
and adds to the "lenset" that is formed from the helio and galaxy bubbles

i wounder if this has significant implications for distence to objects out side the helio sphere?


xploder

reply to post by XPLodER


conjures up so many questions Xploder, the very nature of a star and it environment, its motion within the galactic stream , as for what were seeing through our heliosphere,truth?, calculations are going to have to be rejuggled for this one, my guess , things are not as far off as they seem., and the proverbial 'nipping off to the shops for a bag of peanuts' may not be too far short of the mark

can we openly gamble on this site?

50 quid says its all a lot nearer and we have all been wearing the 6 inch thick glasses for way too long

placeyourBetsBox

reply to post by funbox


the fact that there are 100 million mile wide "mini lenses" inside one of the medium boundry layers is very important to the optical nature of light as it transitions through different density mediums
this has implications on the "refractivity" of the helio lens

the effect "could be" to masivly increase lensing potential through the layer,
or to "modulate" lights properties.

and the fact that after a couple of reads i get some thing like this from the info

"The sun's magnetic field extends all the way to the edge of the solar system," explains Opher. "Because the sun spins, its magnetic field becomes twisted and wrinkled, a bit like a ballerina's skirt. Far, far away from the sun, where the Voyagers are now, the folds of the skirt bunch up."

When a magnetic field gets severely folded like this, interesting things can happen. Lines of magnetic force criss-cross, and "reconnect". (Magnetic reconnection is the same energetic process underlying solar flares.) The crowded folds of the skirt reorganize themselves, sometimes explosively, into foamy magnetic bubbles.

"We never expected to find such a foam at the edge of the solar system, but there it is!" says Opher's colleague, University of Maryland physicist Jim Drake.

there still seems to be an "up on the air" need more data to confirm type thing going on
its proberly too early to lay a wager

but i will look into how this would affect optically the boundry to boundry interaction

So far, much of the evidence for the existence of the bubbles originates from an instrument aboard the spacecraft that measures energetic particles. Investigators are studying more information and hoping to find signatures of the bubbles in the Voyager magnetic field data.

"We are still trying to wrap our minds around the implications of the findings," said University of Maryland physicist Jim Drake, one of Opher's colleagues.

source

implications ..........................................

xploder

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