The heliosphere is a vast bubble-like region of space dominated by the solar wind, a stream of charged particles expelled by the sun. Extending far beyond the furthest planets, the heliosphere acts as a protective shield for the solar system, buffering it from the interstellar medium— the gas, dust, and cosmic rays that fill the galaxy. Its boundary, known as the heliopause, is where the solar wind’s strength is finally overcome by the interstellar medium pressure. Inside this boundary, the solar wind interacts with planetary atmospheres and the magnetic fields of various celestial bodies. The study of the heliosphere is crucial for understanding the broader astrophysical processes at work in our galaxy and provides insights into the nature of stellar winds in other star systems as well. Understanding its structure and dynamics also helps scientists predict space weather events that can affect Earth and technological systems.
New astrophysical research highlights a significant cosmic event two million years ago when the solar system passed through a dense interstellar cloud. This possibly altered…
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Identifies Mechanism Driving the Sun’s Fast Wind Parker Solar Probe data has helped researchers understand how the sun’s wind can reach…
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe probe got close enough to sun’s surface to see hidden granular features. NASA’s Parker Solar Probe (PSP) has flown close enough…
NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX mission, has helped researchers learn something new about the heliosphere – the magnetic bubble created by the Sun that…
The researchers observed long, web-like structures that eject particles from the Sun into space. A group of researchers from Southwest Research Institute, NASA, and the…
Astrophysicists on BU’s NASA-funded SHIELD team reach another milestone on their quest to understand the heliosphere. A multi-institutional team of astrophysicists headquartered at Boston University,…
Our corner of the universe, the solar system, is nestled inside the Milky Way galaxy, home to more than 100 billion stars. The solar system…
Using data from NASA’s IBEX satellite, scientists created the first-ever 3D map of the boundary between our solar system and interstellar space. For the first…
As NASA’s Voyager 1 Surveys Interstellar Space, Its Density Measurements Are Making Waves In the sparse collection of atoms that fills interstellar space, Voyager 1…
Eleven billion miles away – more than four times the distance from us to Pluto – lies the boundary of our solar system’s magnetic bubble,…
NASA has approved two heliophysics missions to explore the Sun and the system that drives space weather near Earth. Together, NASA’s contribution to the Extreme…
Scientists have developed a new prediction of the shape of the bubble surrounding our solar system using a model developed with data from NASA missions….
Far, far beyond the orbits of the planets lie the hazy contours of the magnetic bubble in space that we call home. This is the…
With the development of science and technology, human activity was and is expanding from land, sea, and sky to space and other planets. In the…
Boston University astrophysicist and collaborators reveal a new model of our heliosphere that’s shaped somewhere between a croissant and a beach ball. The heliosphere is…
What happens when the solar wind suddenly starts to blow significantly harder? According to two recent studies, the boundaries of our entire solar system balloon…