Nasa's IBEX spacecraft picks up interstellar 'alien' particles in our solar system



A Nasa craft has detected neutral 'alien' particles entering our solar system from interstellar space.

The discovery, by the agency's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) ship, gives the most complete glimpse yet of what lies beyond our solar system.

Researchers are confident the new measurements will offer clues about how and where our solar system formed, the forces that physically shape it, and the history of other stars in the Milky Way.

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Flying through space: Nasa scientists have discovered atoms including helium, hydrogen, oxygen and neon blowing into our solar system on the interstellar wind

Nasa's Ulysses spacecraft detected interstellar neutral helium more than a decade ago.



But now, Earth-orbiting IBEX has observed three other types of atom including hydrogen, oxygen and neon - the raw material for the formation of new stars, planets and even human beings.

These interstellar atoms are the by-products of older stars, which blow through in the so-called interstellar wind.

Researchers found 74 oxygen atoms for every 20 neon atoms in the interstellar wind. In our own solar system, there are 111 oxygen atoms for every 20 neon atoms.



Blowing in: Researchers found 74 oxygen atoms for every 20 neon atoms in the interstellar wind. In our own solar system, there are 111 oxygen atoms for every 20 neon atoms

While the big bang initially created hydrogen and helium, only the supernovae explosions at the end of a star’s life can spread the heavier elements of oxygen and neon through the galaxy.



With the new research scientists may now be able to map how our galaxy evolved and changed over time.

'In the beginning there was only hydrogen and helium,' Eberhard Moebius, a University of New Hampshire professor and IBEX team member at Los Alamos, said.



'These two elements formed the first stars. When those stars collapsed and died, they spewed their material, including new elements created through the process of nuclear fusion, out into space.



'We can tell a lot about the evolution of our universe and perhaps gain insight into other galaxies and planetary systems by analysing these particles.'

The IBEX images have been able to provide researchers with more information about our galactic neighborhood and raise some pressing questions about it.

Detecting clues: The discovery, by Nasa's Interstella Boundary Explorer (IBEX) ship, gives the most complete glimpse yet of what lies beyond our solar system

Route: IBEX orbits the Earth and picks up atoms that have spread through the galaxy

'Our solar system is different than the space right outside it, suggesting two possibilities,' David McComas, IBEX principal investigator, at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, said.

'Either the solar system evolved in a separate, more oxygen-rich part of the galaxy than where we currently reside, or a great deal of critical, life-giving oxygen lies trapped in interstellar dust grains or ices, unable to move freely throughout space.'

Scientists now want to use the new research to help discover what makes up the local interstellar medium - the boundary region that separates the far reaches of our galaxy from our heliosphere.

This sphere shields our solar system from dangerous cosmic radiation hailing from interstellar space.

To do this they measured the amount of pressure the interstellar wind has on the heliosphere.

' Measuring the pressure on our heliosphere from the material in the galaxy and from the magnetic fields out there will help determine the size and shape of our solar system as it travels through the galaxy,' Eric Christian, IBEX mission scientist, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md, said.