[meteorite-list] Alien Interstellar Material Discovered

From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <*meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com*> Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:08:06 -0500 Message-ID: <CAKBPJW9Eskks7zxRsb-dFS1maKoGaAvrdAJLWFAvJUmg+tCDqg_at_mail.gmail.com> · meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com

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On 1/31/12, dorifry <dorifry at embarqmail.com> wrote:
> Blown by the interstellar wind:
>
> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46209853/ns/technology_and_science-space/
>
> NASA probe discovers 'alien' matter outside solar system
> Interstellar material spotted by IBEX from orbit 200,000 miles above Earth
>
> For the very first time, a NASA spacecraft has detected matter from outside
> our solar system - material that came from elsewhere in the galaxy,
> researchers announced Tuesday.
>
> This so-called interstellar material was spotted by NASA's Interstellar
> Boundary Explorer (IBEX), a spacecraft that is studying the edge of the
> solar system from its orbit about 200,000 miles above Earth.
>
> "This alien interstellar material is really the stuff that stars and planets
> and people are made of - it's really important to be measuring it," David
> McComas, IBEX principal investigator and assistant vice president of the
> Space Science and Engineering Division at Southwest Research Institute in
> San Antonio, said in a news briefing today from NASA Headquarters in
> Washington, D.C.
>
>   1.. More space news from msnbc.com
>     1..
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>
>     2.. Catch the afterglow of the solar storm
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> An international team of scientists presented new findings from IBEX, which
> included the first detection of alien particles of hydrogen, oxygen and
> neon, in addition to the confirmation of previously detected helium. [
> Images from NASA's IBEX Mission ]
>
> These atoms are remnants of older stars that have ended their lives in
> violent explosions, called supernovas, which dispersed the elements
> throughout the galaxy. As interstellar wind blows these charged and neutral
> particles through the Milky Way, the IBEX probe is able to create a census
> of the elements that are present.
>
> Heavy elements in space
> According to the new study, the researchers found 74 oxygen atoms for every
> 20 neon atoms in the interstellar wind. For comparison, there are 111 oxygen
> atoms for every 20 neon atoms in our solar system, meaning there are more
> oxygen atoms in any part of the solar system than in nearby interstellar
> space, the scientists said in a statement.
>
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> "These are important elements to know quantitatively because they are the
> building blocks of stars, planets, people," McComas said. "We discovered
> this puzzle: matter outside our solar system doesn't look like material
> inside our solar system. It seems to be deficient in oxygen compared to
> neon."
>
> The presence of less oxygen within interstellar material could indicate that
> the sun formed in a region with less oxygen compared to its current
> location, the researchers said.
>
> Or, it could be a sign that oxygen is "locked up" in other galactic
> materials, such as cosmic grains of dust or ice. [ Top 10 Strangest Things
> in Space ]
>
> "That leaves us with a puzzle for now: could it be that some of that oxygen,
> which is so crucial for life on Earth, is locked up in the cosmic dust?"
> asked Eberhard M?bius, a professor at the University of New Hampshire and a
> visiting professor at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. "Or,
> does it tell us how different our neighborhood is compared to the sun's
> birthplace?"
>
> IBEX also measured the interstellar wind traveling at a slower speed and
> from a different direction than was previously thought. The research now
> shows that the interstellar wind exerts 20 percent less pressure on our
> heliosphere, which is a protective bubble that shields our solar system from
> powerful, damaging cosmic rays.
>
> "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 in a statement.
>
> A history of the universe
> The results of the new study will also help scientists shed light on the
> history of the material in the universe.
>
> "It tells us things about the part of space that we live in, and the
> interaction with that part of space with the rest of the galaxy," McComas
> said.
>
> The observations from IBEX and the ability to determine the ratio of
> elements in space could help scientists understand how the galaxy has
> evolved and changed over time.
>
> "I find it really exciting that right on our front doorstep, we can take a
> sample of this interstellar matter around us," M?bius said. "If you think
> back all the way to the Big Bang, there was only hydrogen and helium. Then
> stars and supernovas sprinkled it with heavy elements - if you imagine that
> we are made out of the material that has been belched out of the supernovas,
> and it is continuing. So, 4.5 billion years ago, the sun formed out of the
> solar nebula, and now we are sampling part of the Milky Way as it is today.
> It gives us nice data points - Big Bang and the sun's formation to what is
> our environment. Then modelers can go and trace how that material has
> evolved over time in the cosmos."
>
> The findings are detailed in a series of papers that were published today in
> the Astrophysical Journal.
>
> NASA launched the IBEX mission in October 2008 to map the boundary between
> the solar system and interstellar space. The $169 million spacecraft was
> originally built for a two-year mission.
>
>
>
> IBEX measures and counts particles called energetic neutral atoms, which are
> created in an area of our solar system known as the interstellar boundary
> region. Since its launch, the spacecraft has already made groundbreaking
> discoveries about the heliosphere and the boundary between our solar system
> and interstellar space.
> In 2009, IBEX detected a mysterious ribbon on the edge of the solar system
> made up of a stream of charged particles that travels a million miles per
> hour from the sun. In 2010, researchers announced that IBEX had witnessed
> the first-ever look at solar wind crashing into Earth's magnetosphere.
>
> You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Denise Chow on Twitter at denisechow.
> Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on
> Twitter at Spacedotcomand onFacebook.
>
>
>
> Phil Whitmer
>
> Joshua Tree Earth & Space Museum
>
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