Sun  Universe  ID: 10908

IBEX: Observing the Sun's Horizon

The Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, is the first mission designed to map the entire region of the boundary of our Solar System. As charged particles from the Sun, called the "solar wind," flow outward well beyond the orbits of the planets, they collide with the material between the stars, called the "interstellar medium" (ISM). These interactions create energetic neutral atoms (ENAs), particles with no charge that move very quickly. This region emits no light that can be collected by conventional telescopes so, instead, IBEX measures the particles that happen to be traveling inward from the boundary. IBEX contains two detectors designed to collect and measure ENAs, providing data about the mass, location, direction of origin, and energy of these particles. From these data, maps of the boundary are created. IBEX's sole, focused science objective is to discover the nature of the interactions between the solar wind and the interstellar medium at the edge of our Solar System.
 

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Credits

Walt Feimer (HTSI): Lead Animator
Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Animator
Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Animator
Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Video Editor
Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Narrator
Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Producer
Eric Christian Ph.D. (NASA/HQ): Scientist
Dave McComas (SwRI): Scientist
Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Writer
Karen Fox (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Writer
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10908

Missions:
IBEX
SDO

Data Used:
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

This item is part of these series:
Narrated Movies
IBEX Videos
IBEX Sees Evolution in the Heliopause
IBEX Views the Local Interstellar Wind

Goddard TV Tape:
G2012-009 -- IBEX ISM Press Conference

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
SVS >> Heliosphere
SVS >> Music
SVS >> Neutral Atoms
SVS >> Solar Wind
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Solar Activity >> Cosmic Rays
SVS >> Space Weather
SVS >> Heliopause
SVS >> SDO
SVS >> IBEX
SVS >> Edited Feature
SVS >> Heliosheath
SVS >> Heliophysics
DLESE >> Narrated
SVS >> Interstellar Medium
NASA Science >> Sun
NASA Science >> Universe

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0