NASA Voyager Craft Discover Magnetic 'Bubbles' At Solar System's Edge (VIDEO, PICTURE)

NASA's twin Voyager spacecraft have made a baffling discovery along their journey to the outer limits of the solar system.

Scientists studying the Voyager data noticed what may be giant magnetic bubbles located in the heliosphere, the region of our solar system that separates us from the violent solar winds of interstellar space.

The bubbles, scientists believe, form when the sun's magnetic field becomes warped at the edge of our solar system.

"The sun's magnetic field extends all the way to the edge of the solar system," astronomer Merav Opher of Boston University said in a statement released Thursday. "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, the folds of the skirt bunch up."

What will these bubbles tell us about the way our sun's magnetic field interacts with interstellar rays entering our solar system? According to CNET, Voyager project scientist Ed Stone told CBS News that this layer of bubbles "might affect how cosmic rays from outside can actually get inside the heliosphere. They have to sort of manage to get across all these bubbles."

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory launched the Voyager craft 33 years ago on a mission bound for interstellar space.

Take a look at NASA's renderings of the heliosphere, comparing the old model (before the bubbles were discovered) and the new model that includes the bubbles. Then, watch NASA's video for more information about this remarkable discovery.
LOOK:

WATCH: [via NASA]

Comments

[blindsquirl]

09:47 PM on 06/14/2011

Will this discovery change the way in which Cosmic distances are calculated?
(these "bubbles" represent still another medium (variable), which exists in the (assumed) "vacuum" of space. (in addition to; gas clouds, dark matter, gravity wells, etc.)
If every star in every galaxy, and every galaxy in the known universe has these "magnetic bubbles", it MUST have an effect upon light rays traveling through them.
ANY relevent information would be greatly appreciated.

[SiriusMrE]

12:55 PM on 06/14/2011

Is no one else troubled by the bald adjusting of a "theory" to fit the observations right before our eyes? If astronomy were a true science, this kind of evidence would immediately falsify the model--and, indeed, in the the bygone days of "natural philosophy" this was the case.

There exists a theoretical framework which is not surprised by this information; in fact, it predicts it. Eventually, enough evidence will (continue to) pile up that we will be able to finally scrap the tired, gas-light-era model that has dominated astronomy and prevented true discovery.

A more coherent explanation of what is probably going on here:
"Earth’s magnetospheric 'bubble' is known among space plasma physicists as a Langmuir sheath and is part of an electrical circuit coupled to currents flowing in the Sun's heliosphere. Langmuir sheaths are electrically charged double layers of plasma, in which opposite charges build up near each other, creating an electric field between them. Double layers can accelerate ions to extreme velocities that might easily be misinterpreted as high temperature.The same conditions are most likely present where the solar magnetosphere, or heliosphere, meets the dissimilar charge of the Interstellar Medium (ISM). Two regions of dissimilar plasma will form a Langmuir sheath between them, which leads to a potential 'bubble' formation."
Magnetic Effervescence: http://thunderbolts.info/tpod/2011/arch11/110613effervescence.htm

[blindsquirl]

10:04 PM on 06/14/2011

MrE, are these ionic accelerations capable of producing LIGHT?
If so, COULD these "lights" be intrepeted as distant galaxies, by terrestrial and near earth observatories? (I don't care if this sounds crazy..if it does just say so, won't be the 1st time)
Thanks for any input, * )

[petekwando]

12:20 PM on 06/14/2011

I love it - launched in the 70s, and still sending back useful data. Even more amazing when you realize it takes 13-16 hours for signals to get from here to there.

[Schmice]

02:08 PM on 06/13/2011

Things like this are so incredible.

I have a serious question for those who might know. (Excuse my ignorance.) Are there any downsides to having acres and acres of solar panel "farms" such as warming up the nearby atmosphere because of the reflectors which might in turn cause weather changes?

I think we should diversify our sources of energy depending on what each area of the country can offer. Sun, wind, waves, coal(?!) etc. Regional approaches that could people to work here and a perfect opportunity for industry and government to cooperate for the general welfare.

[Justjack1]

11:40 AM on 06/13/2011

Great discovery.

[lw1]

10:55 AM on 06/13/2011

Captain Kirk, we are experiencing a strange anomaly, it appears harmless.....Move in closer Spock....KABOOM!!!!

[kellythebest]

02:00 AM on 06/13/2011

NASA is a government agency that should always be super funded. I would more than happily choose to have tax dollars spent there than on foreign aid to every county on earth. I know it often seems like a waste of money, especially in an economic downturn, but discovering just what space is, what quirks are out there we haven't found yet and can't understand now, and what that means to us scientifically, is an investment in the future we have to make.

[Downix]

02:04 PM on 06/13/2011

Every dollar we put into NASA comes back many-fold, from the technologies developed, the science performed. Did you know that right now the ISS is finishing up an experiment with Salmonella which will produce the first Vaccine against the disease? They could not have developed that on earth, the microgravity environment of the ISS is the only place they could have engineered this. And that is one of thousands of pieces underway, thanks to NASA. Millions of people owe their lives to NASA, and those people work, have jobs, and contribute to society.

[DenverWilliam]

12:25 AM on 06/13/2011

These probes were well built...HD pictures of the outer solar system and we learned ALOT we would have never known without going there. Its in human nature to explore...go new places and learn all we can.
33 years and are still doing good science....Money well spent

[James Walton]

06:41 PM on 06/12/2011

What an incredible achievement. I remember when Voyager was launched in the 70's. I never really expected it to survive long enough to make it out of the solar system and continue the exploration. Well done NASA.

[walkinthedogdude]

06:32 PM on 06/12/2011

I'm not smart enough to appreciate the significance of this discovery. But I am in awe that Voyager is still operational after 33 years. That's a huge achievement in itself.

[proudtohaveserved]

07:52 AM on 06/13/2011

I just thought, they look like hiuge air bags, probably for protection of some kind

[SwampeastMike]

03:55 PM on 06/12/2011

How very strange. The first image is uncannily similar to a drawing I made a year or two ago, "Space--if you could see it." Hollow donuts and twisted balloons of space (the positive) surrounded by clouds of interconnected energy (the negative). H1 atoms and H2 molecules which I said could be of any size depending upon how great the energy to compress the space.

Why does electromagnetic energy travel in waves? Because it travels around space.

[dewlady357]

01:52 PM on 06/12/2011

OK..but they look like POPPED bubbles..like in a pan of boiling water. I'm no science genius so don't understand if this will cause any ramifications but the way the world is going with fire, pestilence, earthquakes, tornadoes, etc..wouldn't surprise me a bit if the sun "bubbles" are going to cause a troublesome future for earth. Sigh..

[DakkonA]

08:20 AM on 06/13/2011

Considering that these would have always been there, I'm not sure why/

[Kald]

12:34 PM on 06/12/2011

Can we finally ditch all the crap and just start worshiping the Sun again?

Please??

[Pectin]

12:32 PM on 06/12/2011

How could a chimpanzee get to the solar system's edge?

[chipchuck]

10:27 AM on 06/13/2011

VLT: Very Large Trebuchet

[jaredbrain]

08:03 AM on 06/12/2011

The Voyager probes, launched decades ago when we still thought space exploration and innovation really mattered. And who took uw to the moon? Oh yeah the govt