Stellary Starry Universe

"Alien matter" detected by a NASA spacecraft orbiting Earth shows that the chemical make-up of our solar system differs from that of the surrounding galaxy. Researchers discuss the possible meaning of this mismatch in today's story from Science@NASA.

NASA's Voyager probes have reached the edge of the solar system and found something surprising there–a froth of magnetic bubbles separating us from the rest of the galaxy.

To commemorate an unprecedented tripling of flybys, orbital insertions and launches to planets, comets and asteroids, NASA has declared the year ahead "The Year of the Solar System."

Giant planet GJ 436b in the constellation Leo is missing something–and that something is swamp gas. To the surprise of astronomers who have been studying the Neptune-sized planet using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, GJ 436b has very little methane–an ingredient common to many planets in our own solar system.

This artist’s concept shows the unusual, methane-free world partially eclipsed by its star. Models of planetary atmospheres indicate that any world with the common mix of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen, and a temperature up to 1,000 Kelvin (1,340 degrees Fahrenheit) should have a large amount of methane and a small amount of carbon monoxide. But at about 800 Kelvin (or 980 degrees Fahrenheit), GJ 436b it does not. The finding demonstrates the diversity of exoplanets and the need for further study. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

 

NASA’s IBEX spacecraft has discovered a vast, glowing ribbon at the edge of the solar system. One mission scientist calls the discovery "shocking" and says theorists are "working like crazy" to explain the finding.

October 15, 2009: For years, researchers have known that the solar system is surrounded by a vast bubble of magnetism. Called the “heliosphere,” it springs from the sun and extends far beyond the orbit of Pluto, providing a first line of defense against cosmic rays and interstellar clouds that try to enter our local space. Although the heliosphere is huge and literally fills the sky, it emits no light and no one has actually seen it.

Until now.

NASA’s IBEX (Interstellar Boundary Explorer) spacecraft has made the first all-sky maps of the heliosphere and the results have taken researchers by surprise. [...]

Source: Nasa Science – click here for full article