Magnetic bubbles churn at solar system's edge

[bananas]

Source: MSNBC

The edge of the solar system is a turbulent place, filled with a roiling sea of huge magnetic bubbles, new research suggests.

The find, made with the help of observations from NASA's venerable Voyager probes, shakes up prevailing views of the solar system's outer reaches. And it shows that this region, once thought to be a relatively firm shield against interstellar particles such as galactic cosmic rays, is actually more of a porous membrane.

"We will have to change our view of how the sun interacts with particles, fields and gases from other stars," Arik Posner, a Voyager program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., told reporters Thursday.

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For decades, scientists had thought that, in the heliosheath, the sun's magnetic field curves around in a smooth, consistent arc, forming a relatively uniform structure.

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Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43345390/ns/technology_and_science-space/

[El Supremo]

1. Nothing new >>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MXgc8wzfC4

[dogmoma56]

2. ever see the french cartoon about the people who discovered their universe was someone elses dream.?