Is the Local Interstellar Cloud affecting us in any way?

Russian Claims Disclaimer

After having a chat with MamaJ, it is important to clarify my previous posts regarding the Russian claims.

Those claims are made by a A.N. Dmitriev. The middle name letter being N. This gentleman, if you search to find him, is solely related to a group of real American scientists that supposedly work in co-operation with a group of Russian scientists. All searches on a A.N. Dmitriev lead back to this group or various conspiracy sites that picked up on the claims and ran with it. Nowhere is an A.N. Dmitriev showing up in serious scientific tracks.

Now, as MamaJ has shown in her posts, there is also a A.V. Dmitriev, the middle name letter being a V, a real scientist who is highly regarded by his peers and whom you can find being mentioned in serious searches, papers and tracks such as NASA and the ESA.

So there are two possibilities that arise.

1 – A.N. Dmitriev is a hoax.

2 – A.N. Dmitriev and A.V. Dmitriev are one and the same. If this is the case, then there is reason for concern as it would either mean that the whole thing is a hoax from A to Z or that there could be some real serious scientific papers – unknown, unseen and unsearchable - that exist.

MamaJ has emailed A.V. Dmitriev twice and hopefully she will get a reply.

She has also found both pictures of the gentlemen; that would tend to show that they are not the same person.

I deem it important to clarify this point and as MamaJ and I will be both looking into this group of scientists that push the A.N. Dmitriev story, we will get back with the new info.

In the meantime, we will resume with the regular research on the LIC.

Thank you.

Anything I have ever researched has taken me places that stump me, just as the two possible Russian Scientists. Rabbit holes are fun though. I really enjoy the time and effort of figuring out a puzzle such as this one.

Son~ it was fun discussing it with you as well!!

The "group" probably deserves its own thread. Whew!

Back to the the good ole LIC....

I would like to present a tutorial for this research.

To better help the reader/student who is unfamiliar with what exactly the LIC is, below is a link to an online tutorial of the Local Interstellar Medium. I hope the reader enjoys it as much as I did/do.

www-ssg.sr.unh.edu...

The majority of the interstellar gas and dust that we see was produced by star death.

Even though we have never observed a star die or one born, the word is... they do both.

Interstellar material also comes from stars which are still undergoing stable fusion reactions. Our own sun sends out streams of particles and radiation -- the solar wind -- that interact with particles flowing into our solar system. Given that all stable stars also produce a similar "wind", a substantial portion of the interstellar medium can be accounted for in this way. Clouds of interstellar dust have accreted (clumped together) over millions of years. This dust is a varied mix of compounds and elements; some interstellar clouds even contain organic molecules like acetylene and acetaldehyde, known precursors of amino acids. The atoms needed to create these clouds of molecules have generally come from past supernovae.

Notice it says above a mixture of compounds and elements. This is where we will possibly pick up more "alien" compounds or elements". I bet there are types of atoms that have never been discovered in a stellar nursery. Don't take my word for it though as I am just thinking while I type.

Many of the denser clouds become stellar nurseries

So, just think. Anytime we go through a more denser cloud we could be in a "stellar nursery"!!!! Is that cool or what? Life is all around us in space. Ahhhhh.... I love it!

Below is my favorite part of the tutorial.

we are all made of stardust.

Makes me think of the Bible when it says in Genesis "And the stars sang". (wink, wink)

No... not a "Bible thumper" but I do get into some mythology.

Please visit the tutorial for an in depth and easy to understand view of the Local Interstellar Medium. Its is filled with so much..... great information....... I would have to quote it all to really allow the reader an understanding as this region is complex.

Is the LIC affecting life on Earth?

To better understand the principle behind the possibility and even though what I am about to show seems farfetched, it does remain a possibility and I wish I had other means to look into this aside from what I can find on the net. But here goes...

First we must look at the LIC composition and determine if some attributes could be in play.

To start, let us look at what NASA tells us about some of its possible composition:

About 10 million years ago, a cluster of supernovas exploded nearby, creating a giant bubble of million-degree gas. The Fluff is completely surrounded by this high-pressure supernova exhaust and should be crushed or dispersed by it.

What, for me, is creating great concern is the high pressure supernova exhaust as those are normally accompanied with radioactive beryllium and this will be the subject of these next posts. Actually, ice-core samples in Antarctica have shown us that we have been affected by beryllium voyaging along cosmic rays in the past.

MamaJ also pointed to this interesting fact here:

Changes in the sun's galactic environment, moderate or otherwise, must have taken place in the past. Indeed there is evidence on earth suggesting that the local galactic environment has not been stable. Ice-core samples from the Antarctic show spikes in the concentration of beryllium-10 (which has a half-life of 1.5 million years) during two events, one about 60,000 years ago and another about 33,000 years ago. What events could have caused these sudden increases in beryllium?

In this post HERE.

These isotopes are created when intense radiation hits the atoms in the upper atmosphere, suggesting that a blast of energy had once hit our planet from space.

BBC Article

As many of you have probably noticed, for a decade or so, there has been a spike in massive animal die offs, from birds to fish, to dolphins and turtles, to antelopes and whales to the point where some animals are being threatened of extinction and it is noticeable that this is affecting the animal wildlife in general. Here are a two interesting ATS threads that talk about the phenomenon:

2012 Mysterious Mass Animal Death List

Huge Number of Mass Animal Deaths for 2012 – updated


Many folks think that die offs are a normal occurrence and they normally are but nowhere close to what we’ve seen in the last decade, increases in the species affected and the massive quantity of them dying all of a sudden is far from being normal .

Another staggering point is that there is also an increase in cancers throughout the animal kingdom:

Tazmanian devils, turtles, whales, sea lions, dolphins and fish are some of the species shown in the study to be suffering from elevated rates of cancer, in some cases threatening the very survival of the species.

In some cases, cancers could threaten populations by preventing reproduction in addition to killing individuals. Sea lions found off of California suffer widespread metastasizing genital carcinomas which prevent them from mating. Rarely seen before the 1980's, such cancers were found in over 18% of sea lions washed up on California beaches. In a separate study of sea lions killed during an unusual algal bloom, 6.3% were found to have cancer. Fortunately, sea lion populations have been growing in spite of the simultaneous increase in observed cancers. Ocean-going dolphins are also showing increased rates of genital cancers.

Even our own domesticated pets are no longer safe:

Cancer remains a leading killer of pets and people and it’s incidence has grown from a rate of approximately 1 out of every 500 individuals being affected in the year 1900 to a rate of 1 out of every 3 people and one out of every 5 pets (dogs and cats) being affected with cancer today.

Decades ago, humans had cancers once in a while and most died of cardiovascular problems or old age. Not any more. Cancer is the second biggest killer of our times and it seriously peaked within the last decades. So what could be the cause of all of this?

~Continued on next post

Slow but gradual Chemicals introduced in Cosmic Rays...

...is a strong possibility. The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change has done monitoring of radioactivity in the air and rainwater in a published report of 2009, from which I quote:

Beryllium-7 is a naturally occurring gamma-emitting radionuclide which is produced during cosmic ray interactions with nitrogen and oxygen in the upper atmosphere.

Chilton Be-7 in 2009 rain ranges between 0.31 ± 0.17 and 2.41 ± 0.59 Bq l-1 for June, this elevated June result of 2.41 ± 0.59 Bq l-1 is more than double the 10-year mean and above the significance value. At present, there is no explanation for this anomalous result although analytical data have been verified.

Monitoring of Radioactivity in Air and Rainwater in the UK – Annual Results Report 2009


That is just one chemical that could be introduced from the cosmic rays and falling to the surface, found in rainwater as the air monitoring was not available for the months of April, May and June from the Chilton reports. If you look at the chart and numbers supplied under Table 6 in the link above, you will notice that the concentrations – even though there is no data available from Chilton for 3 months – are doubled, within a single year and from one report only.

Beryllium is some pretty serious stuff. It is normally used in the aerospatial and electronics industries and workers are often tested for contamination. Beryllium can cause weakness, headaches, fatigue, heart problems, breathing problems and in more concentrated doses, internal hemorrhages and cancer.

Some autopsy reports that are available online regarding bird die offs show signs of hemorrhages. Still, some say it was caused by fright of fireworks or from traumatism from the fall on concrete soil. That still doesn’t explain the ones that fell in trees and on softer grounds.

Birds breath air but not like we do. They inhale and the inhalation is kept in air bags.

These allow the air to flow around in a grand circle meaning birds can have fresh oxygen rich air in their lungs all the time

Or contaminated air that slowly kills them, if such is the case and beryllium in sufficient quantity would cause hemorrhages and / or cancer.

If beryllium is in fact falling down to us, in the air, in rainfall, on the soil and in oceans, this would also explain the spike in cancers all around, from animals to fishes, to us. I am not claiming that this is a certainty but it remains a possibility.

Other Sources

Galactic Superwave Theory

Cancers Threaten Wild Animal Populations

The Health Dangers of Beryllium

Gamma-ray burst hit Earth in 8th Century

While my absence has been short lived, I do hope I've been missed and "a" reader out there is patiently awaiting new research into the LIC and its role playing in climate change or anything else thats going on in the world we may want to tag it in.

Im only kidding. This research is complex and mostly goes way over my head, however i enjoy learning. Whats better than learning about space, planets, ions, heliosphere, etc..... oh never mind.
Some of you may not know that what was once thought to be a "bow shock" is no longer a bow shock.

Nasa released this article on 05/10/2012, "IBEX Reveals a Missing Boundary At the Edge Of the Solar System". www.nasa.gov...

"For the last few decades, space scientists have generally accepted that the bubble of gas and magnetic fields generated by the sun – known as the heliosphere – moves through space, creating three distinct boundary layers that culminate in an outermost bow shock. This shock is similar to the sonic boom created ahead of a supersonic jet. Earth itself certainly has one of these bow shocks on the sunward side of its magnetic environment, as do most other planets and many stars. A collection of new data from NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX), however, now indicate that the sun does not have a bow shock."

Sorry bow shock lovers, there is not a bow shock to be found via the latest data. They say the heliosphere is not moving fast enough to produce a bow shock.
But... they did say that we are living in a "tenuous and highly magnetized region in our local part of the galaxy". So, anytime someone says we are not in a magnetized cloud, tell them you know better. We already know our solar system is moving through it, the sun is on the outer boundaries of it, the local interstellar cloud is held together by its own magnetic field.. yep... its magnetic out there.

Voyager 1 and 2 are really allowing us to understand this part of the galaxy much better.

"We've seen one after another signature of a very strong magnetic field in the galactic environment," says Nathan Schwadron, a space scientist at the University of New Hampshire in Durham who is one of the authors on the paper. "That magnetic field influences the structure of the heliosphere and the boundaries themselves. That leads to a whole new paradigm."

The article also states,

," The heliosphere's boundaries lie roughly 10 billion miles away from Earth, but are nonetheless crucial for understanding our place in the universe. Indeed, the heliopause provides some protection for our solar system from the harsh, radiation environment surrounding it."

Key words here are "some" "protection". I don't care where its at.... is it protecting and how much is it protecting? Its a wild world out there. lol

Below is from this link.. web.gps.caltech.edu...

"Changes in the pressure or magnetic field of the local interstellar cloud could also cause the boundary locations to move. The scale length for changes in the local interstellar cloud is not known. The Sun is very near the local interstellar cloud boundary and will cross into another interstellar medium environment in a few thousand years, and scale lengths for variations may be smaller near this boundary"

Also from the link below..,
news.nationalgeographic.com...

"Now IBEX has surprised astronomers by showing that this force field-like structure, the heliosphere, is an unexpectedly dynamic, unpredictable boundary."If we've learned anything from IBEX so far, it is that the models that we're using for interaction of the solar wind with the galaxy were just dead wrong,"

www.telegraph.co.uk...

"Sun's protective 'bubble' is shrinking.The protective bubble around the sun that helps to shield the Earth from harmful interstellar radiation is shrinking and getting weaker, Nasa scientists have warned."

These magnetic fields in my opinion can make or break a situation. If they are weak or strong... it matters.

Read this 2008 article from NASA... science.nasa.gov...
Basically it says that solar wind has decreased (not speed, only temp and density) ,which means less protection, more cosmic rays and more cloud clover ~ cooling effect. Last part was my own words though. Ice age anyone? It may get frosty... lol

In a briefing today at NASA headquarters, solar physicists announced that the solar wind is losing power."The average pressure of the solar wind has dropped more than 20% since the mid-1990s," says Dave McComas of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. "This is the weakest it's been since we began monitoring solar wind almost 50 years ago."

Ulysses spacecraft measured the decrease. Ulysses launched in 1990 and has a global view of solar wind activity

"The solar wind is 13% cooler and 20% less dense." "What we're seeing is a long term trend, a steady decrease in pressure that began sometime in the mid-1990s," explains Arik Posner, NASA's Ulysses Program Scientist in Washington DC.

"How unusual is this event"?

It's hard to say. We've only been monitoring solar wind since the early years of the Space Age—from the early 60s to the present," says Posner. "Over that period of time, it's unique. How the event stands out over centuries or millennia, however, is anybody's guess. We don't have data going back that far." Flagging solar wind has repercussions across the entire solar system—beginning with the heliosphere."

Key word, "repercussions" and it begins with the heliosphere.

The heliosphere is a bubble of magnetism. If the Solar wind is cooler and less dense how does that factor in or does it?

Every planet from Mercury to Pluto and beyond is inside it. The heliosphere is our solar system's first line of defense against galactic cosmic rays. High-energy particles from black holes and supernovas try to enter the solar system, but most are deflected by the heliosphere's magnetic fields."

Keywords besides protection is galactic comsmic rays (GCR's) and High-energy particles. (Sorry Im keyword happy right now. lol)

The solar wind isn't inflating the heliosphere as much as it used to," says McComas. "That means less shielding against cosmic rays."In addition to weakened solar wind, "Ulysses also finds that the sun's underlying magnetic field has weakened by more than 30% since the mid-1990s," says Posner. "This reduces natural shielding even more."

So... the Heliosphere is shrinking (at times at least), more cosmic rays (at least by 20% AROUND Earth), and a weakened magnetic field of the Sun. Now I know you remember the Earth's magnetic field has weakened as well. So.... we are vulnerable. Thats what it seems for the moment anyway. This is probably why "they" want us to be prepared for a flare or anything for that matter. Safety first guys! lol

there are controversial studies linking cosmic ray fluxes to cloudiness and climate change on Earth

Below is more on cosmic rays..

The cause of the surge is solar minimum, a deep lull in solar activity that began around 2007 and continues today. Researchers have long known that cosmic rays go up when solar activity goes down. Right now solar activity is as weak as it has been in modern times, setting the stage for what Mewaldt calls "a perfect storm of cosmic rays." "We're experiencing the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century," says Dean Pesnell of the Goddard Space Flight Center, "so it is no surprise that cosmic rays are at record levels for the Space Age."

Then the article goes on to say..

Mewaldt lists three aspects of the current solar minimum that are combining to create the perfect storm: 1. The sun's magnetic field is weak. "There has been a sharp decline in the sun's interplanetary magnetic field down to 4 nT (nanoTesla) from typical values of 6 to 8 nT," he says. "This record-low interplanetary magnetic field undoubtedly contributes to the record-high cosmic ray fluxes." [data] 2. The solar wind is flagging. "Measurements by the Ulysses spacecraft show that solar wind pressure is at a 50-year low," he continues, "so the magnetic bubble that protects the solar system is not being inflated as much as usual." A smaller bubble gives cosmic rays a shorter-shot into the solar system. Once a cosmic ray enters the solar system, it must "swim upstream" against the solar wind. Solar wind speeds have dropped to very low levels in 2008 and 2009, making it easier than usual for a cosmic ray to proceed. [data]

Continued....

3. The current sheet is flattening. Imagine the sun wearing a ballerina's skirt as wide as the entire solar system with an electrical current flowing along its wavy folds. It's real, and it's called the "heliospheric current sheet," a vast transition zone where the polarity of the sun's magnetic field changes from plus to minus. The current sheet is important because cosmic rays are guided by its folds. Lately, the current sheet has been flattening itself out, allowing cosmic rays more direct access to the inner solar system."

But of course at the end NASA lets us know there is nothing to be worried about. lol Oh.. no biggie. Go watch American Idol. Which I do love American Idol. I love living... and do not worry about tomorrow. However... lets be honest. Just say we don't know what will happen... but we will enjoy learning while we can.

They say we will know when its real bad because there will be beryllium all about. Well... I remember reading an article that said scientists are puzzled how such high concentrations came to be in the ice cores and tree rings. Makes me wonder.

Hundreds of years ago, cosmic ray fluxes were at least 200% to 300% higher than anything measured during the Space Age. Researchers know this because when cosmic rays hit the atmosphere, they produce an isotope of beryllium, 10Be, which is preserved in polar ice."

Beryllium is another thread.. can't go down that rabbit hole right now. Here are a couple of links if anyone is interested.

link.springer.com...
www.andrewcollins.com...

Also,
news.nationalgeographic.com...

Now IBEX has surprised astronomers by showing that this force field-like structure, the heliosphere, is an unexpectedly dynamic, unpredictable boundary."If we've learned anything from IBEX so far, it is that the models that we're using for interaction of the solar wind with the galaxy were just dead wrong,"

Lets look at the Sun and climate. physicsworld.com...

According to Svensmark, cosmic rays seed low-lying clouds that reflect some of the Sun's radiation back into space, and the number of cosmic rays reaching the Earth is dependent on the strength of the solar magnetic field. When this magnetic field is stronger (as evidenced by larger numbers of sunspots), more of the rays are deflected, fewer clouds are formed and so the Earth heats up; whereas when the field is weaker, the Earth cools down."

Right now then it would be cooler and cloudier, hence more precip.??

public.web.cern.ch... "CLOUD – Cosmics Leaving Outdoor Droplets"

Results from CLOUD below.. www.atmos-chem-phys.net...

Interestingly we were able to observe different kinds of new particle formation events. A few of the events appear to be related to ion-induced nucleation or ion-ion recombination to form stable neutral clusters. In these cases, a small but significant fraction of new particle formation could be explained by ion processes"

For me, after reading the results, it seems there are more questions than answers.. it really doesn't say a whole lot to me. Be my guest and see what you think.

More analysis.. www.nature.com...
www.nature.com...

Back to the LIC thinking.... why do you think they are not able collect dust and gas by spacecraft to actually know for sure whats what? Sorry... random thought.

Lets see whats up with the Earth's magnetic field (another protector)

"ESA’s quartet of satellites studying Earth’s magnetosphere, Cluster, has discovered that our protective magnetic bubble lets the solar wind in under a wider range of conditions than previously believed." www.esa.int...

Here below is what Susan Rennison says about the LIC (Etheric cloud as she calls it)

This interstellar cloud has been given a variety of names by the scientific community such as Local Fluff and 'G Cloud' but the metaphysical community have referred to this as an 'Etheric' cloud and more recently it has been acknowledged as the arrival of primordial 'Adamantine' particles. It is widely accepted by those who understand the implications, that it is the arrival of this interstellar molecular cloud that has been effecting the sun in the last few decades as the sun has passed through into the outermost tenuous regions of this cloud, populated with more dense filaments of plasma. It is fair to say that astronomers are not able to judge accurately astronomical distances in space, or distinguish the arrival of a moderately dense, but still not inconsequential cloudlet, hence over the last 30 years or so, the estimated time of arrival of a dense interstellar cloud has been stated to be up to 50,000 years. Therefore, there has been confusion because it seems that a cloudlet has arrived and some astronomers believe we entered the tenuous outer edges of a moderately dense cloud in the early 1990s. The arrival of an interstellar cloud of dense dusty plasma or an 'etheric cloud' is understood to be the most significant driver for massive evolutionary change within our solar system. The following quote from a metaphysical source indicates that the astronomical community had been aware for many decades that our solar system was being approached by an interstellar molecular cloud but from a metaphysical viewpoint, humanity must expect there to be significant consequences for the spiritual evolution of mankind." www.susanrennison.com...

Spiritual Evolution is knocking on our door... I can dig it.

Solar wind.. articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com...

A recent research by the Radio Astronomy Centre, National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) has found that there has been a steady weakening of the Sun's magnetic field and its associated solar wind in the interplanetary space. According to the study, these changes can have a greater impact on the earth's atmosphere than previously thought. If such a steady weakening of the Sun's magnetic energy continues for one or two solar cycles, it may lead to a 'mini'-ice age kind of situation, similar to that which occurred in the 17th Century, states the study

Now for the conclusion best said by "Opher".

space.mit.edu... "A strong, highly-tilted interstellar magnetic field near the Solar System" M. Opher, F. Alouani Bibi, G. Toth, J. D. Richardson, V. V. Izmodenov, T. I. Gombosi "Magnetic fields play an important (sometimes dominant) role in the evolution of gas clouds in the Galaxy, but the strength and orientation of the field in the interstellar medium near the heliosphere has been poorly constrained." "We conclude that the interstellar medium field is turbulent or has a distortion in the solar vicinity."

Below is a list of links that proves our A."N". Dmitriev (one in question as a "hoax") is not only a real Russian Scientist but one who is also in the real "Russian Physics Journal".

proceedings.aip.org... from aip conference in 2004
tmgnow.com... "Physical Model of Kimberlite Pipe Formation New Constraints From Theory of Non-Homogenous Physical Vacuum"by Dmitriev, A.N.
link.springer.com... "The Tunguska Mystery, Astronomers' Universe 2009 and more.. www.tunguskamystery.info... and more.. www.fact-index.com... "Tunguska event"
adsabs.harvard.edu... Geophysical aspects of anomalous phenomena and global ecology
www.researchgate.net... article about "Geophysical aspects of anomalous phenomena and global ecology"A. N. Dmitriev and more .. link.springer.com...
The infamous paper.. lol.. frankherles.wordpress.com...

"The Svensmark Cosmic Ray Theory was developed at the Danish Space Institute. "



A bigger change coming?? Temp crashing? Sorry global warmers and Al Gore.... you may be wrong. Ocean water warming may be a better term.

Is cooling worse? They say it is.

Researcher and author Marshall Klarfeld discussed the ancient Researcher Robert Felix spoke about climate and the possibility we could be heading into an ice age. According to a study, the Himalayas have lost no ice in the last 10 years, and glaciers are growing in areas such as Mount Everest, he noted. Ice age cycles occur around every 11,500 years, and one sign that one is impending is increased volcanic activity, particularly underwater, he stated.

Mini Ice Age by 2014? Thats next year...

The evidence of this or how we will know for sure.... more volcanic activity, especially underwater. There is possibly more than 3 million underwater volcanoes!!

www.volcano.si.edu...

cleantechnica.com...

Two vulcanologists published a paper in 2008 suggesting that as climate change continues, the next decades could see more volcanic activity in regions such as Iceland that are now under ice. Read more at cleantechnica.com...

Based on readings from more than 30,000 measuring stations, the data was issued last week without fanfare by the Met Office and the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit. It confirms that the rising trend in world temperatures ended in 1997.

In my opinion... Solar ~ Space weather is actually more important than terrestrial.

www.technologyreview.com...

"Extreme Space Weather Triggered Medieval Famines, Say Astrophysicists"

"Famines plagued Iceland and food prices spiked in medieval England following extreme space weather events, according to a new study of historical data"

The evidence linking space weather and terrestrial weather is growing. The idea here is that cosmic rays can ionise dust particles, which then attract water vapor triggering the formation of clouds.

More information for you regarding the Sun ~ Earth connection.

It seems as though the Earth is connected to the Sun.... literally. Like a mother to her newborn. NASA calls it a "magnetic portal". From Oct. 2008

science.nasa.gov...

During the time it takes you to read this article, something will happen high overhead that until recently many scientists didn't believe in. A magnetic portal will open, linking Earth to the sun 93 million miles away. Tons of high-energy particles may flow through the opening before it closes again, around the time you reach the end of the page. "It's called a flux transfer event or 'FTE,'" says space physicist David Sibeck of the Goddard Space Flight Center. "Ten years ago I was pretty sure they didn't exist, but now the evidence is incontrovertible."

More surprises huh?This is why a book should always stay open... the mind as well. Once its closed, nothing new is observed.

"We used to think the connection was permanent and that solar wind could trickle into the near-Earth environment anytime the wind was active," says Sibeck. "We were wrong. The connections are not steady at all. They are often brief, bursty and very dynamic."

There are many unanswered questions: Why do the portals form every 8 minutes? How do magnetic fields inside the cylinder twist and coil? "We're doing some heavy thinking about this at the Workshop," says Sibeck. Meanwhile, high above your head, a new portal is opening, connecting your planet to the sun.

And..... where is the Sun located at present? What kind of energy surrounds it? What changes are occurring with the Sun, Space, and our Planet? Are all the "protectors" working properly?

So many questions indeed.

sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov... six images from SDO, chosen to show a representative image about every six months, track the rising level of solar activity since the mission first began to produce consistent images in May, 2010. The period of solar maximum is expected in 2013. The images were taken in the 171 Angstrom wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light.

From Jan. 8,2013 "Solar Variability and Terrestrial Climate"

Raymond Bradley of UMass, who has studied historical records of solar activity imprinted by radioisotopes in tree rings and ice cores, says that regional rainfall seems to be more affected than temperature. "If there is indeed a solar effect on climate, it is manifested by changes in general circulation rather than in a direct temperature signal." This fits in with the conclusion of the IPCC and previous NRC reports that solar variability is NOT the cause of global warming over the last 50 years. Much has been made of the probable connection between the Maunder Minimum, a 70-year deficit of sunspots in the late 17th-early 18th century, and the coldest part of the Little Ice Age, during which Europe and North America were subjected to bitterly cold winters. The mechanism for that regional cooling could have been a drop in the sun’s EUV output; this is, however, speculative.

Regional rainfall according to Raymond seems to be more affected than temperature.

Indeed, the sun could be on the threshold of a mini-Maunder event right now. Ongoing Solar Cycle 24 is the weakest in more than 50 years. Moreover, there is (controversial) evidence of a long-term weakening trend in the magnetic field strength of sunspots. Matt Penn and William Livingston of the National Solar Observatory predict that by the time Solar Cycle 25 arrives, magnetic fields on the sun will be so weak that few if any sunspots will be formed. Independent lines of research involving helioseismology and surface polar fields tend to support their conclusion. (Note: Penn and Livingston were not participants at the NRC workshop.) “If the sun really is entering an unfamiliar phase of the solar cycle, then we must redouble our efforts to understand the sun-climate link,” notes Lika Guhathakurta of NASA’s Living with a Star Program, which helped fund the NRC study. “The report offers some good ideas for how to get started.”

If the sun really is entering an unfamiliar phase, we are going to know it... sooner than later.

Radiometric imager anyone? Thats the plan as of now...

A radiometric imager, deployed on some future space observatory, would allow researchers to develop the understanding they need to project the sun-climate link into a future of prolonged spotlessness. Some attendees stressed the need to put sun-climate data in standard formats and make them widely available for multidisciplinary study. Because the mechanisms for the sun’s influence on climate are complicated, researchers from many fields will have to work together to successfully model them and compare competing results. Continued and improved collaboration between NASA, NOAA and the NSF are keys to this process. Hal Maring, a climate scientist at NASA headquarters who has studied the report, notes that “lots of interesting possibilities were suggested by the panelists. However, few, if any, have been quantified to the point that we can definitively assess their impact on climate.” Hardening the possibilities into concrete, physically-complete models is a key challenge for the researchers.

I just came across a paper written recently that I want to present to this research thread.

It stands to reason research is ongoing as to what the composition is exactly, of the LIC, not to mention the Cluster of Local Interstellar Clouds (CLIC) as well.

I have read so much I believe I am as confused as they are with all their studies and instruments. There is a debate and hopefully sooner than later it will all be understood.

When one thinks of the LIC, some may think of it as a cloud..... thats it.. just a cloud, however it is composed of different materials and density in regions, as far as I can understand of course.

Some of it does indeed go waaay over my head but I am trying hard to understand. Bare with me.

The LIC can be complicated ... its so complex, however I do want to know if anyone knows exactly where the Sun is. They say it is on the "edge"

Lets see what Priscilla C. Frisch has to say about it in her paper called, "The Heliosphere—Blowing in the Interstellar Wind"" written possibly on Jan. 4 2013 arxiv.org...

Cloud edges are interesting properties of the ISM that are difficult to study, and the Sun is near a cloud edge

.

Confirmed again.... The Sun is near a cloud edge.

We read the LIC is surrounded by a magnetic field and or flow.

The LIC belongs to an ISM flow (the cluster of local interstellar clouds, CLIC) with an upwind direction in the local standard of rest (LSR) that is within 15 degrees of the center of the S1 shell, directed towards the center of the Loop I superbubble [5, 37]. The properties of the edge of the LIC depend on the adjacent ISM. The CLIC is embedded in the hot Local Bubble plasma. Since neutral gas fills 25%–40% of the sightlines towards nearby stars, or less if clouds consist of randomly distributed uniform spherical objects, the LIC may be bounded by million degree tenuous plasma. For this scenario, the LIC edge may consist either of a hot evaporative conductive interface, or of a turbulent mixing layer [5]. Both phenomena disrupt the velocities disrupt cloud edges

Read the last two sentences again. The LIC may (MAY) consist either of a hot evaporative conductive interface, or of a turbulent mixing layer. Both disrupt the cloud edges.

She goes on to say the CLIC is decelerating. Why is this?

The CLIC is decelerating. This property is shown by the velocity distribution of clouds in the flow, some of which are accelerated towards the Sun, relative to the mean flow velocity, in both the upwind and downwind directions [5, 37]. In a decelerating flow, velocities in cloud boundary regions may be disrupted by collisions between clouds that create density enhancements similar to the Leo clouds discussed in Meyer et al. [10], or by other instabilities.Fluctuations in interstellar electron densities are identified over scales of ∼ 10 4km through 10 AU by their effect on radio wave propagation [38]. Radio scintillation data showing that electron scattering screens are present within 10 pc has been interpreted to indicate the presence of local cloud collisions [39]"

(For review ~ arxiv.org... "The Remarkable High Pressure of the Local Leo Cold Cloud")

So... some are accelerated toward the Sun.

Decelerating flow may be caused by collisions between clouds or by other instabilities? Would the collisions be between two CLIC's?

What about turbulence? This is important, right?

"Based on the trend for the ecliptic longitude of the LIC velocity vector to increase with time, it should be considered a real possibility that the Sun has sampled turbulence in the LIC velocity over the past several decades

Over the last several decades the Sun has "sampled" turbulence. We know the Sun has been through " it " in its lifetime and Im not concerned too much about whether or not it will survive, I know it will. I just want to know more... like.... everything.

She goes on to say,

There is no information about the scale size of the turbulence in the LIC, so according to these arguments, a plausible case can be made that this nominal 4.6 km s−1 turbulent component samples turbulence in the ISM between the Sun and the upwind edge of the LIC. In such a case, a systematic variation in the flow direction is possible."

Three sets of data suggest that the Sun is in a fragment of the shell of the Loop I superbubble: (1) The Loop I model of Wolleben [55, 56] identifies two radio continuum shells (called “S1” and “S2”) at different distances and locations. The Sun is located in the rim of the S1 shell according to his model, a result that agrees with prior estimates of the Loop I configuration [57]. (2) Interstellar clouds within about 20 pc of the Sun, e.g. the CLIC, have a bulk velocity in the LSR that is within 15◦ of the center of the S1 shell, suggesting a dynamical expanding shell configuration [56, 5]"

From the paper above, some of the conclusion is as follows..

In conclusion, there are many astronomical justifications for the hypothesis that the very local ISM varies over spatial scales comparable to the heliosphere dimensions. After all, the heliosphere, as well as other stars [58], disrupt the ISM and the ISMF over thousand-AU spatial scales"

Also, from her paper in 2010, "The S1 Shell and Interstellar Magnetic Field and Gas near the Heliosphere"

arxiv.org...

If the Sun is in such a shell, it should be apparent in both the local interstellar magnetic field and the distribution of nearby interstellar material. The properties of these subshells are compared to the interstellar magnetic field (ISMF) and the distribution of interstellar Fe + and Ca + within ∼ 55 pc of the Sun. Although the results are not conclusive, the ISMF direction obtained from polarized stars within ∼ 30 pc is consistent with the ISMF direction of the S1 shell. The distribution of nearby interstellar Fe + with log N(Fe + )< 12.5 cm−2 is described equally well by a uniform distribution or an origin in spherical shell-like features. Higher column densities of Fe + (log N(Fe + )> 12.5 cm−2 ) tend to be better described by the pathlength of the sightline through the S1 and S2 subshells.

This isn't proven, by the way... just another "theory" floating around. There are many.... I have read them. lol

The location of the Sun in the rim of the Loop I superbubble has been inferred from radio continuum data, kinematical data on the flow of local ISM away from the center of Loop I, data on gas-phase abundances in local ISM, and the coincidence of the velocity of ISM inside and outside of the heliosphere. Loop I is an evolved superbubble shell formed from stellar evolution in a subgroup of the Sco-Cen association, ∼ 4 − 5 Myrs ago (e.g. de Geus 1992; Frisch 1995, 1996; Ma´ız-Apell´aniz 2001). Both the original dimensions found for the Loop I bubble observed in 820 MHz (Berkhuijsen 1973), and more recent studies of Heiles (1998a,b, H98a,H98b) and Wolleben (2007), place the Sun in or adjacent to the rim of a magnetic superbubble shell for an assumed spherical geometry.

In her conclusion she does go on to say that "Loop I is not a shell for the high density regions".

Both the kinematics and abundance pattern of local interstellar material (LISM) suggest that the Loop I remnant has expanded to the solar location (Frisch 1981). LISM abundances of the refractory elements Mg, Fe, and Ca, show the characteristic enhancement indicative of grain destruction in interstellar shocks (Frisch et al. 1999).

Please read the entire paper for a full view and perspective.

The evolved shell is thicker near the ISMF equatorial regions, where field strengths are larger due to flux freezing, than the polar regions of the shell where thermal pressure provides the main support for the shell. In media where magnetic pressure is weak, e.g. the ratio of thermal to magnetic pressure β > 10, the evolved bubble is more symmetric. Supernovae in Sco-Cen Association subgroups have contributed to the3 evolution of the Loop I superbubble during the past ≤ 14 Myrs. The Loop I superbubble (and S1, S2) expanded in a medium with a density gradient, because the initial supernova occurred in the molecular regions of the parent Scorpius-Centaurus Association subgroups, while the subsequent bubble expansion occurred in the low density interior of the Local Bubble cavity (Frisch 1981, 1995; Fuchs et al. 2006). In this case the external plasma β may have varied irregularly across the expanding shell, so that the topology of the present day S1 and S2 shells may deviate from axial symmetry as well as sphericity. The ISMF direction at the heliosphere provides the most direct measure of whether the Sun is embedded in the shell of the Loop I superbubble. Several phenomena trace the field direction – the weak polarization of light from nearby stars (Tinbergen 1982; Frisch 2007a, hereafter F07), the flield direction in the S1 subshell of Loop I (Wolleben 2007), the 3 kHz emissions from the outer heliosheath detected by the two Voyager satellites (Gurnett et al. 2006, F07), the observed angular offset between interstellar H o and He o flowing into the heliosphere (Lallement et al. 2005; Pogorelov & Zank 2006; Opher et al. 2007), and the 10 pc difference between the distances of the solar wind termination shock detected by the two Voyager satellites (e.g. Stone 2008). The orientation of the plane midway between the hot and cold dipole moments of the cosmic microwave background is also within ∼ 15 ◦ of the local ISMF direction (F07). 1

Death Rays From Space

Astrobiology Magazine

Here is a very interesting article that talks about deadly cosmic rays. From what we have provided within this thread so far, we can deduce that we’ve been hit by higher radiation in the past. The samples are there, the data is there.

We also know that we are at the edge of a interstellar mystery, just beyond our heliosphere. IBEX has demonstrated that there is alien matter there. MamaJ, within this thread, in this post here, has shown that the bow shock is in questionable speculations.


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/ne51198c8c.jpg[/atsimg]


With a weakened or non existent bow shock, is it possible that radiated cosmic rays get through to us?


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/jl51198d31.jpg[/atsimg]


IBEX has also found a ribbon for which scientists are still merely speculating and alien matter...???





A thing or two about cosmic rays:

Cosmic rays pour down on Earth like a constant rain.

Interesting, isn’t it? Gets better...

Cosmic rays are mostly high-energy protons, with some electrons, positrons and heavy nuclei mixed in. Their energies range over 14 orders of magnitude, with the most energetic cosmic rays flaunting a billion times more energy than is possible in man-made particle accelerators on Earth.

CERN anyone?. A billion times what we are trying to accomplish in there... It gets better...

At present, the average human receives the equivalent of about 10 chest X-rays per year from cosmic rays.

Not alarming, part of the natural process...still interesting though, I didn’t know this and most probably, neither did you...( Phage, if you are reading this, that comment wasn’t for you )

Gets better...

"The increase in ultraviolet light is extremely damaging, and might be especially lethal to single-celled organisms," says Adrian Melott of the University of Kansas.

Have any of you checked the UV status for the last few years...might be a good idea...

Gets better...

At sea level, the majority of cosmic ray secondaries are highly penetrating muons. About 10,000 muons pass through our bodies every minute. Some of these muons will ionize molecules as they go through our flesh, occasionally leading to genetic mutations that may be harmful.

Meh...occasionally... Let’s see, could it get better? Oh yeah...

In a similar vein, Melott and his colleagues found a possible link between the bobbing of our Sun up and down in the galactic plane and a 63-million-year cycle in fossil biodiversity. The hypothesis is that our solar system is exposed to more cosmic rays every time the solar system peaks out of one side of the galaxy.

End of post and one final question... Where are we now?




I’ll let Melott conclude:

"No one has calculated the full effects on the ground," he says.

This research is interesting... real interesting.... tonight is one of those times where I am in awe with what I find.

From the DARPA and NASA initiative for 100 year star ship.. comes this below..

www.icarusinterstellar.org...

Icarus is a name for a spacecraft/mission to be done hopefully sometime by 2100. I have never heard of this proposed project, however it has its own web page. Non profit organization. Being funded by

Are you curious about the name? Me too....

In Greek mythology, Icarus (the Latin spelling, conventionally adopted in English; Ancient Greek: Ἴκαρος, Íkaros, Etruscan: Vikare[1]) is the son of the master craftsman Daedalus. The main story told about Icarus is his attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that his father constructed from feathers and wax. He ignored instructions not to fly too close to the sun, and the melting wax caused him to fall into the sea where he drowned. The myth shares thematic similarities with that of Phaëton—both are usually taken as tragic examples of hubris or failed ambition—and is often depicted in art. Today, the Hellenic Air Force Academy is named after Icarus, who is seen as the mythical pioneer in Greece's attempt to conquer the skies. The Lament for Icarus by H. J. Draper Icarus's father Daedalus, a talented and remarkable Athenian craftsman, built the Labyrinth for King Minos of Crete near his palace at Knossos to imprison the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull monster born of his wife and the Cretan bull. Minos imprisoned Daedalus himself in the labyrinth because he gave Minos' daughter, Ariadne, a clew[2] (or ball of string) in order to help Theseus, the enemy of Minos, to survive the Labyrinth and defeat the Minotaur.en.wikipedia.org...

Read the link for a more in depth read about Icarus. I want to go back to the link above... its a blog and a well informed one at that. I love this stuff!

Day 1 of the event began with astronaut Jan Davis discussing some of her experiences as an astronaut, and showing support for interstellar flight. Her last slide encouraged the community to continue research on breakthrough propulsion, which I found encouraging. We were treated to a number of excellent talks including a 15 year olds discovery of a Gamma Ray Burst through the use of his personal Geiger counter, Kelvin Long discussing starship designs, and the i4is, and a particularly interesting talk by Sam Lightfoot. Sam’s work examines how certain technologies, if ‘gifted’ to a culture from a more advanced culture, can have particularly negative ramifications on the less advanced culture. He gave the examples of spam, iron axes, snowmobiles, tobacco and chocolate, and several other seemingly innocuous technologies which had dramatically negative effects on the culture to which they were given.

Then there is this.. if they can't send humans... how about uploaded humans? No joke... read the link and be astounded as me.. PLEASE!

"Why we should send uploaded astronauts on interstellar missions"
io9.com...

So again, I found the first link above from reading this below..

www.icarusinterstellar.org...

It speaks on behalf of the Interstellar Medium and what kind of particles may exist. What dust clouds will possibly be consisted of and how the spacecraft should be built as to accommodate for the winds and dust grains.

This is what was known in 2010, or at least implies its known at this time.

The internal structure of these clouds is also of potential importance for interstellar mission design

Yes, it is. Tell me more.

. Information on spatial structure can be obtained by comparing the interstellar spectra of stars that are close together on the sky, or by observing temporal changes in the interstellar spectrum of a single star as the relative motions of the Sun and star cause the line-of-sight to probe different regions of the cloud. For denser, more distant, interstellar clouds there is now considerable evidence for significant density and/or ionisation structure on scales of tens or hundreds of astronomical units [21], which could be a potential problem for interstellar space vehicles passing through them

I love space weather!

Continued below..

The link above is from the Elsevier journal titled, "Project Icarus: A review of local interstellar medium properties of
relevance for space missions to the nearest stars" by, Ian A. Crawford from The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, UK

I review those properties of the interstellar medium within 15 light-years of the Sun, which will be relevant for the planning of future rapid (vZ0.1c) interstellar space missions to the nearest stars. As the detailed properties of the local interstellar medium (LISM) may only become apparent after interstellar probes have been able to make in situ measurements, the first such probes will have to be designed conservatively with respect to what can be learned about the LISM from the immediate environment of the Solar System

The last sentence of the paragraph says we can learn about the LISM from our local environment of the Solar System. They assume the lowest plausible density, however should prepare the vehicle for the highest plausible density.

but the highest plausible densities when considering possible damage caused by the impact of the vehicle with interstellar material

Properties of the LISM which may impact on the design of an interstellar space vehicle such as Icarus include:  The density of the interstellar gas along the proposed trajectory.  The ionisation state of the gas. The density and size distribution of solid interstellar dust grains. The strength of the interstellar magnetic field.

So, the density and ionization of the gas, density and size of the dust grains, and the strength of the magnetic field is what will be taken into consideration. Sweet!

The LIC is only one of a several broadly similar interstellar clouds within a few light-years of the Sun: Redfield and Linsky [13] identify six within 15 light-years (4.6 parsecs). These clouds are immersed in the empty (nHEne0.005 cm3 ), ionised, and probably hot (T10 6 K; but see [16] for an alternative view) Local Bubble (LB) in the interstellar medium [11,17]. The LB extends for about 60–100 parsecs from the Sun in the galactic plane before denser interstellar clouds are encountered, while at high galactic latitudes the LB appears to be open, forming a chimney-like structure in the interstellar medium, which extends into the galactic halo (e.g. [18] and references cited therein)

He goes on to say the LB (Local Bubble) properties are in question. I wonder why it has a chimney like structure? Magnetic field weakens in this area? If so, wouldn't it allow "stuff" to come in? I wonder......

still supported by a number of observations and arguments [17], the presence of a 10 6 K plasma immediately surrounding the local clouds has recently been questioned. In response, Welsh and Shelton [16] have tentatively put forward an alternative model in which the LISM clouds are surrounded by a cooler (T20,000 K), denser (ne0.04 cm3 ), photo-ionised gas

If (big IF) its surrounded possibly by a denser, cooler, and photo-ionised gas then the "edge" of it, where the Sun is may be affected by such changes in density and temperature. Thats my assumption and I could be totally wrong... thinking out loud.

The properties of the LIC, and other nearby clouds, have been determined by spectroscopic studies of interstellar absorption lines towards nearby stars, augmented in the case of the LIC by observations of interstellar matter entering the Solar System and interacting with the heliosphere (

So, Interstellar "matter" is making its way into our Solar System which in turn interacts with the Heliosphere. It stands to reason then, this would allow for more magnetism and energy?? I wonder what kind of matter?

This implies that stars are more likely to lie in low density inter-cloud (Local Bubble) material than within the clouds themselves, although there appears to be a greater concentration of clouds closer to the Sun (half of those identified lie within 5 parsecs).

Stars are more likely to hang out in low density inter-cloud, although a greater "concentration" of clouds closer to the Sun.

Thus, although it is important to keep an open mind, current indications are that the physical properties of the LISM clouds are relatively homogeneous. Of course, ultimately, obtaining detailed knowledge of the internal structure of the local interstellar medium is one of the scientific issues that we would expect an interstellar space probe to address [

They go back and forth.... one paper or result will have the LIC is low density and homogeneous and another says the opposite. Ive also read in many papers that the metal abundances in the LISM vary greatly over distances.

Continuing with the journal....

Voyager 2 measurements of the deflection of the solar wind in the heliosheath, Opher et al. [31] have recently argued that the local interstellar magnetic field strength actually lies in the range 3.7–5.5 mG which, if confirmed, would imply that the magnetic energy density dominates the overall LIC energy budget. Uncertainty remains as whether the CHISM properties represent the properties of the LIC or, as argued by Redfield and Linsky [13], the properties of a narrow transition zone between the LIC and the G clouds, and therefore an average of the two

which, in the absence of any other information, should probably be taken as the ‘best guess’ value for the LIC

Lets assume as of right now then, the value for the LIC is at best..... a ...... "best guess".

. As already noted, these are still uncertain: the long-standing model of a hot, empty LB (nH totEneE0.005 cm3 ; TE10 6 K [11]), while probably still viable (see Shelton [17]), has recently been questioned, and it is possible that the spaces between the LISM clouds may instead be filled with a cooler (T20,000 K), higher density (nH totEneE0.04 cm3 ) medium [16].

It is possible the spaces between clouds may be filled with a cooler, higher density. I think this was already stated but never the less, states it again.,

Because the vehicle will reach speed of light speeds, the density is considered as a threat from the grains of dust as well as the Interstellar material.

The issue of shielding an interstellar space probe from interstellar dust grains was considered in detail in the context of the Daedalus study by Martin [34]. Martin adopted beryllium as a potential shielding material (owing to its low density and relatively high specific heat capacity) and found that several kg per square metre of this material would be eroded from exposed surfaces over the course of a six light-year flight at a speed of 0.1c (with the exact amount depending on the density of interstellar material; see his Table 6). Longer durations, and/or higher speeds, would result in greater ablation of shield material.

Beryllium could be used as a shielding material? Ok.....

Dust detectors on the Ulysses, Galileo and Cassini spacecraft show "smaller than a micron" dust grains.

The "worrying twist" is described below..

However, from the point of view of interstellar spacecraft design there is a potentially worrying twist: the same spacecraft instruments that have identified the mean radii of interstellar grains entering the Solar System to be 0.3 mm [27,37] have also identified a high-mass tail to the grain population, extending to at least 10 13 kg (i.e. 2 mm radius) and perhaps as high as 10 12 kg (4.5 mm radius). Allowing for these larger grains, Landgraf et al. [37] inferred a total dust mass density in the LIC (strictly the CHISM) of 6.2  10 24 kg m3 (which is actually a lower limit, as the smallest population of interstellar grains, those with radii o0.1 mm, are deflected at the heliopause and never enter the Solar System). This estimate is currently being reassessed on the basis of spacecraft data collected since the original measurements were made [27], but as of mid-2010 this value is still the best available for the local interstellar dust density (Dr. H. Kruger, personal commu- ¨ nication, 2010). It is a factor of about two higher than might be expected based on the astronomically determined grain size distribution of Mathis et al.

So, it seems still unsure about the size of the dust grains, at least from region to region. There is a lot of speculation based on data, sure, but still questions do remain. We definitely need more probing.

Because of the following below we have to realize the potential of coming in contact with larger dust grains. From the quote below it says, "Meteors entering the Earth's atmosphere appear to have identified an incoming population of very large interstellar grains".

Even more worrying, from the point of view of interstellar spacecraft design, is the fact that the upper-bound to the size distribution of interstellar dust particles in the solar neighbourhood is not currently well constrained. Radar observations of meteors entering the Earth’s atmosphere [27,38,39] appear to have identified an incoming population of very large interstellar grains, having masses 43 10 10 kg (corresponding to radii 430 mm for a silicate density).

Read below about impact estimations from "very large" dust grains..

Thus, over a six light-year (5.7 10 16 m) flight we might expect between 2 and 200 impacts per square metre with such large particles

It's assumed much more work needs to be done to determine the upper-limit to the size distribution of interstellar dust grains in the local interstellar medium. This way they can finalize a dust protection system for a vehicle to travel to the star systems.

, perfect mixing between gas and dust in these clouds may not be expected even for the small grains.With regard to the largest grains discussed above, the distance scale for coupling to the gas-phase of the interstellar medium would be hundreds or thousands of light-years [27] and no such mixing can be expected in the LISM. Rather, the fluxes of these large particles in the solar vicinity may stem directly from their source regions (whatever these may be), with negligible interaction with the low density clouds of the LISM. In the context of planning interstellar missions such as Icarus, it follows that one should not assume a significant decrease in the dust impact rate as the vehicle passes from a relatively high density medium (e.g. the LIC) into the surrounding low-density LB material.

Lets get to the conclusion already. I hope you have enjoyed what was presented from this journal as much as I enjoyed the read. I know.. I'm really a geek at heart. Some, may not enjoy this stuff as much but its never harmful to learn.

Conclusion Summary:

(1) Many important properties of the LISM are still poorly defined, including the distribution of nearby clouds,their physical properties (especially density and ionisation state), the size distribution of interstellar dust
grains, and the nature of the ‘inter-cloud’ material, which will occupy a significant fraction of the pathlength towards many possible target stars.

(2) Given these uncertainties, it is important that the first generation of interstellar space vehicles be designed conservatively with respect to key interstellar medium properties. That is, such studies should assume the lowest likely density if considering braking devices which rely on transferring momentum from the vehicle to the surrounding medium (such as magsails [8]), but the highest plausible densities when considering possible damage caused by impact of the vehicle with interstellar material.

(3) In order to maintain flexibility with regard to the choice of target star, it would be a mistake to assume that the target will necessarily lie within one of the relatively high density LISM clouds whose properties are summarised in Table 4. This is probably a safe assumption for aCen (which appears to lie well within the G Cloud), but the situation regarding other possible target stars is uncertain

(4) In situ spacecraft detections of interstellar dust entering the Solar System imply a local interstellar dust mass density of 6.2  10 24 kg m3 [37]. This is somewhat higher than previous estimates and will have to be taken into account by the dust protection system of any quasi-relativistic (vZ0.1c) interstellar space vehicle

(5) Observations over the last decade have revealed an unexpected high-mass tail to the local interstellar grain size distribution. Individual particles with masses as high as 10 12 kg (4.5 mm radius) are almost certainly present. Moreover, radar detections of interstellar dust particles entering the Earth’s atmosphere ([27] and references therein) imply a population of interstellar grains with masses 43  10 10 kg (corresponding to radii 430 mm)......a conservative planning assumption would be that particles aslarge as 100 mm radius (10 8kg), and perhaps larger, might be encountered in the course of a several lightyear journey through the LISM. The kinetic energy of such large particles striking an interstellar space vehicle with a relative velocity of 0.1c are considerable
(4.5  10 6J), and some kind of active dust detection and mitigation system may need to be considered.

Please cite this article as: I.A. Crawford, Project Icarus: A review of local interstellar medium properties of relevance for space missions to the nearest stars, Acta Astronautica (2010), doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2010.10.016

While reading about this mission we have learned more about the LIC and its environment. This paper does say pretty much the same as other reads. Its still an open book as to what lies within and abroad. There is more need for probing, this is certain.

One last citation today for the LIC research. nanopatentsandinnovations.blogspot.com...

Many papers suggest there may be "cloudlets" coming our way, like the Sco-Cen complex, and if so....

"Some of those cloudlets might be hundreds of times denser than the local fluff," says Priscilla Frisch, an astrophysicist at the University of Chicago who studies the local interstellar medium. "If we ran into one, it would compress the Sun's magnetic field and allow more cosmic rays to penetrate the inner solar system, with unknown effects on climate and life.

However, they say it probably won’t happen for another 50,000 years. Im wondering though... it seems as though there are different densities even now, so how do we know for sure? Maybe I just have trust issues.




More of Frisch's oberservations regarding the Sun's encounter (and LIC) with anotother "cloud" below...

"This cloud, although low density on average, has a tremendous amount of structure to it,” Frisch said. “And it is not inconsistent with our data that the Sun may eventually encounter a portion of the cloud that is a million times denser than what we’re in now.”

Here she states,

"We think the heliosphere might have been much larger before we entered the interstellar cloud,” said Frisch, “but that’s something we can’t say for sure.” "But if the solar system encountered the much denser cloud, Frisch estimates that the heliosphere could be compressed to within one or two astronomical units of the Sun, not much greater than the Earth’s distance from the Sun. “There would be dramatic effects on the inner solar system,” said Frisch. “It would immediately change the whole interaction between the solar wind and the interstellar medium.” Researchers have predicted increases in the cosmic-ray flux, changes in the Earth’s magnetosphere, the chemistry of the atmosphere and perhaps even the terrestrial climate."

Now, forgive me if Im wrong, but does it not seem like we are in a denser region because things around here in my neck of the woods get stranger every day. One day (recently) we had a tornado, two days after there was snow on the downed trees. Here in TN I have watched crops not be so croppy. Has the solar wind not decreased? More cosmic rays? Eath's magnetosphere? Our climate is definitely seeing changes, globally! I know as well as you know we could pull hundreds of links that agree.

Even though as of right now they believe the Sun is surrounded by a tenuous region, she also states,

"They hope to use the Hubble Space Telescope to answer some remaining questions that will confirm whether a dense cloud fragment does indeed lie in the upwind direction."

The Sun appears to be close to a transition zone from a low density to a spatial region which is divided by the G-Cloud. I want to now know what this region could be like and if the G cloud has any effect on the region. I don't know... just seems like there would be some sort of interaction.

NASA Ulysses Data

Launched in 1990 from the space shuttle Discovery’s STS-41 mission, the Ulysses spacecraft would be going on a mission that lasted till 2009 and for which we can attribute most of the Sun’s heliosphere data available nowadays.


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/ed511b8a2e.JPG[/atsimg]

The primary mission of the Ulysses spacecraft was to characterize the heliosphere as a function of solar latitude. The heliosphere is the vast region of interplanetary space occupied by the Sun's atmosphere and dominated by the outflow of the solar wind. The periods of primary scientific interest is when Ulysses was at or higher than 70 degrees latitude at both the Sun's south and north poles. Ulysses launched on October 6, 1990 and in June 1994 it began a four-month observation from high latitudes of the complex forces at work in the Sun's outer atmosphere-the corona.

Originally, Ulysses was to provide data regarding the heliosphere, the solar winds, the Sun’s magnetic field, plasma waves and galactic cosmic rays but it turned out to do more than that, measuring solar wind fields, particles and cosmic rays along with gas and dust particles.

As early as 1992, data was flowing in regarding stardust:

The stardust is embedded in the local galactic cloud through which the Sun is moving at a speed of 26 kilometres every second. As a result of this relative motion, a single dust grain takes twenty years to traverse the Solar System. Observations by the DUST experiment on board Ulysses have shown that the stream of stardust is highly affected by the Sun's magnetic field.

Curiously, it was found that during the 90’s, the field was keeping most of this dust out. Reports from 2002 however, showed that the shield had lost most of its power during the solar maximum and more dust was getting through, as much as three times more.


Here is a graphic showing where the dust flows, whether we are at a solar maximum or a solar minimum:


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/bo511b8a18.jpg[/atsimg]

The pictures above show cut-aways of where interstellar dust is concentrated in the Solar System - high concentration: red/yellow, low concentration: blue/green (the planets are not shown). During solar minimum (top picture) most interstellar dust can be found above or below the Sun, while at the solar maximum (bottom picture) the dust is concentrated close to the Sun in the plane of the planets' orbits.

Heading for a maximum again, in 2005 they proclaimed that we could expect to see more of this interstellar dust coming through. Interesting to note that each year, we have roughly 40000 tons of dust showering on us, from asteroids and comets.

It is possible that the increase of stardust in the Solar System will influence the amount of extraterrestrial material that rains down to Earth.

Cool stuff huh?

Then in 2008...it breaks the news...


Ulysses spacecraft data indicate solar system shield lowering.

23 September 2008: Data from the joint ESA/NASA Ulysses mission show that the Sun has reduced its output of solar wind to the lowest levels since accurate readings have become available. This current state of the Sun could reduce the natural shielding that envelops our Solar System.

Again, it is interesting to note that such an event had never occurred since space age exists. Consequences of this shield lowering are simple. More dust is flowing in; more cosmic rays are coming through.

The more constant cosmic rays coming through means more particles being hit within our atmosphere, which could explain the increase in the Beryllium data provided in this research.

Now from what we know, from what the current data is providing, we could be entering a zone where the cloud is denser. We could also be entering a zone of our galaxy where the space is denser. As the bowshock has turned into a bow wave, as the heliosphere is weakened, as more cosmic rays and interstellar dust are getting through to us, it is far from insane to think that we might be heading for a new ice age or at the very least, a mini ice age.

It becomes more and more factual and this does affect us all.

Sources

www.nasa.gov...

science.nasa.gov...

sci.esa.int...

sci.esa.int...

www.esa.int...