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First Images of Solar System's Invisible Frontier
FiReaNGeL writes an unexpected side-effect from NASA's STEREO spacecraft has allowed scientists to see a much more well-defined picture of the boundary of our solar system. "The twin STEREO spacecraft were launched in 2006 into Earth's orbit about the sun to obtain stereo pictures of the sun's surface and to measure magnetic fields and ion fluxes associated with solar explosions. Between June and October 2007, however, the suprathermal electron sensor in the IMPACT (In-situ Measurements of Particles and CME Transients) suite of instruments on board each STEREO spacecraft detected neutral atoms originating from the same spot in the sky: the shock front and the heliosheath beyond, where the sun plunges through the interstellar medium."
Wow, that's really hot! I get such a charge learning about NASA's projects!
hehe :) Get the puns? :P
well i can't see a thing!
I'm a rabbit startled by the headlights of life
IMPACT (In-situ Measurements of Particles and CME Transient)
Dear God, an acronym inside another acronym! I think the space geeks have beat us computer geeks yet again.
Last chance for gas, 20,000,000,000 km. We have lotto tickets and cold beer!
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
Would that be like recordings of silence or the smell of nothing?
I read Slashdot for the headlines, because the headlines, unlike the articles, are usually original and never duplicated
Not the sound the Solar system makes as it travels through the galaxy, but the sound of this article going over my head.
So this boundry is what exactly? The limit to which the solar winds reach out from the Sun and the interaction that they have when they hit the expansive nothing out there?
Roughly half my comments are never submitted. You may be reading the better half...
Wouldn't it be possible, using the sun as a center point, to measure the distance to the termnation shock vs the boundaries of the heliosphere to determine how fast and in what vector our solar system is moving through space relative to the center of our galaxy? Or has this already been done, 'cause I can't find the info.
Possibly, using this information, couldn't an orbital pattern of our solar system be extrapolated against the center of the galaxy as a reference point?
I wonder if they found any more plutoids out there... Poor Pluto!
"Ah, so *that's* what an invisible frontier looks like!"
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
...what does god need with a Twin Stereo Starship?
of the universes invisible frontier ; )
"Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"
Well, the gas into which the Sun is driving the termination shock could also have a mean motion relative to the Keplerian velocity at its distance from Galactic center so...no.
However, the Sun's motion relative to the Galactic center is reasonably well known. It is based on looking at the velocities of stars in the local neighborhood (which should be in the same general orbit around Galactic center), and assuming that the average of these would be zero IF the Sun had no velocity except that required for its orbit around Galactic center. The average isn't, so the Sun has an extra velocity component, which is just the negative of this average. (The technical terms used for these quantities are the "solar motion" and the "Local Standard of Rest".) It turns out to be around 16.5 km/sec diagonally inward and slightly upward from its rotation.
"I guess the moral of the story is, don't paint your airship with rocket fuel." -- Addison Bain
I wanna see!
If you can read this, I forgot to post anonymously.
.. that invisible unicorns are pink.
TFA: The termination shock is the region of the heliosphere where the supersonic solar wind slows to subsonic speed as it merges with the interstellar medium.
Okay boys and girls. Quick, grab your calculator and calculate the speed of sound in space...
It's become clear that meta moderation does not work. Moderation does not become better over time scales of months, or even years, at it, in theory, should, if unfair moderations tossed morons out of the pool.
the suprathermal electron sensor in the IMPACT (In-situ Measurements of Particles and CME Transients) suite of instruments on board each STEREO spacecraft detected neutral atoms originating from the same spot in the sky: the shock front and the heliosheath beyond, where the sun plunges through the interstellar medium."
Admit it, you don't know what it means.
If you quote this signature there'll be 72 copies of Windows ME waiting for you in Heaven.
I have a great idea for a postcard:
"Space At Night"
since it's invisible, there's nothing to see...
What's a Sloar?
Gozer the Traveler. He will come in one of the pre-chosen forms. During the rectification of the Vuldrini, the traveler came as a large and moving Torg! Then, during the third reconciliation of the last of the McKetrick supplicants, they chose a new form for him: that of a giant Slor! Many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor that day, I can tell you!
I was expecting a picture that didn't look like something I drew today at work using MS Excel and autoshapes.
"Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
What no null jokes yet?
"Der Horizont vieler Menschen ist ein Kreis mit Radius Null -- und das nennen sie ihren Standpunkt."
Ironically this was the quote near the footer when I was about to post this.
Have a look at this:
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1998MNRAS.298..387D
I believe you fail sir.
[...]assuming that the average of these would be zero IF the Sun had no velocity except that required for its orbit
around Galactic center. The average isn't, so the Sun has an extra velocity component, which is just the negative of this average. It turns out to be around 16.5 km/sec diagonally inward and slightly upward from its rotation.
It must be funny getting lost in your neighborhood and asking you for directions.
Would you prefer if he pointed out the Sun's path by the Starbucks we're passing?
Images of invisible stuff, neat! What will NASA do next?
If there is an article that says there is image of some astronomical phenomenon, then damnit I want some pictures! My taxpayer dollars go to pay for the equipment and I want something back. I don't care if it is invisible! Color it in, spruce it up, and post it. Coloring is the first thing anyone learns in Kindergarten. If you forgot, hire my niece. With a pack of Crayola, she will make invisible look interesting.
You don't have to be smart to use a Mac, you just have to be smart enough to buy one
The termination shock is the region of the heliosphere where the supersonic solar wind slows to subsonic speed as it merges with the interstellar medium.
Why is anything relating to the sound-barrier even mentioned in this article? I was under the impression that there was no sound in the vacuum of space.
..."Hi. Can I take your order?" ???
Only, you know, smaller?
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
...the ability to throw awesome parties, duh.
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