Interstellar Neutral Atoms
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- Visualizations by:
- Walt Feimer
- View full credits
Animation of the interstellar interaction with our Sun-one of billions of stars that orbits around the galaxy. As we zoom in through the galaxy we can see our heliosphere; then if we travel along with the interstellar material, we can see how only a very rare few are directed along precisely the right path to make the 30 year, 15 billion mile journey and enter IBEX's low energy sensor and be detected.
For press release media associated with this animation, go: here.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab
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Animator
- Walt Feimer (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead]
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Scientist
- Eric Christian (NASA/HQ)
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Producers
- Genna Duberstein (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
- Scott Wiessinger (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
Missions
This visualization is related to the following missions:Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Tapes
This visualization originally appeared on the following tapes:-
IBEX ISM Press Conference
(ID: 2012009)
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 5:00AM
Produced by - Robert Crippen
Related Pages
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ID: 10917 Produced Video
"Alien" Material
Read moreNo man-made object has yet to slip the bounds of our solar system and enter interstellar space. But we can measure some of the atoms that make their way into the solar system from the outside. Crossing this boundary, they travel 7.5 billion miles over 30 years until some of them hit the detector on NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) satellite. In 2009 and 2010, IBEX detected neon and oxygen atoms, and in doing so gave scientists the most complete glimpse yet of interstellar material. The results? It's an alien environment out there. The interstellar material has less oxygen in any given slice than anywhere in our solar system. This suggests that the solar system evolved in a separate, more oxygen-rich part of the galaxy or that critical, life-giving oxygen lies trapped in interstellar dust grains or ices. Either way, this affects our understanding of how the solar system, and life, formed. Watch in the videos below to see how IBEX detected this "alien" material. ||
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ID: 10906 Produced Video
NASA's IBEX Spacecraft Reveals New Observations of Interstellar Matter
Read moreA great magnetic bubble surrounds the solar system as it cruises through the galaxy. The sun pumps the inside of the bubble full of solar particles that stream out to the edge until they collide with the material that fills the rest of the galaxy, at a complex boundary called the heliosheath. On the other side of the boundary, electrically charged particles from the galactic wind blow by, but rebound off the heliosheath, never to enter the solar system. Neutral particles, on the other hand, are a different story. They saunter across the boundary as if it weren't there, continuing on another 7.5 billion miles for 30 years until they get caught by the sun's gravity, and sling shot around the star. There, NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer lies in wait for them. Known as IBEX for short, this spacecraft methodically measures these samples of the mysterious neighborhood beyond our home. IBEX scans the entire sky once a year, and every February, its instruments point in the correct direction to intercept incoming neutral atoms. IBEX counted those atoms in 2009 and 2010 and has now captured the best and most complete glimpse of the material that lies so far outside our own system. The results? It's an alien environment out there: the material in that galactic wind doesn't look like the same stuff our solar system is made of.More than just helping to determine the distribution of elements in the galactic wind, these new measurements give clues about how and where our solar system formed, the forces that physically shape our solar system, and even the history of other stars in the Milky Way.In a series of science papers appearing in the Astrophysics Journal on January 31, 2012, scientists report that for every 20 neon atoms in the galactic wind, there are 74 oxygen atoms. In our own solar system, however, for every 20 neon atoms there are 111 oxygen atoms. That translates to more oxygen in any given slice of the solar system than in the local interstellar space. For media associated with this release, go to #10905 and #3900. ||
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ID: 13642 Produced Video
![Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Music credits: “End of Days - Joe Mason Remix” by Connor Shambrook [BMI], Cyrus Reynolds [BMI], Flynn Hase Spence [ASCAP], Joseph Scott Mason [APRA]; “Brainstorming” by Laurent Dury [SACEM]; “Flight of the Leaf Remix” by Julie Gruss [GEMA], Laurent Dury [SAXEM]; “Ticks and Thoughts” by Laurent Dury [SACEM]; “Intimate Journey” by Laurent Vernerey [SACEM], Nicolas de Ferran [SACEM] from Universal Production MusicComplete transcript available.](/vis/a010000/a013600/a013642/13642_IBEX11years_YouTube.00214_print.jpg)
11 Years Charting The Edge of The Solar System
Read moreWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Music credits: “End of Days - Joe Mason Remix” by Connor Shambrook [BMI], Cyrus Reynolds [BMI], Flynn Hase Spence [ASCAP], Joseph Scott Mason [APRA]; “Brainstorming” by Laurent Dury [SACEM]; “Flight of the Leaf Remix” by Julie Gruss [GEMA], Laurent Dury [SAXEM]; “Ticks and Thoughts” by Laurent Dury [SACEM]; “Intimate Journey” by Laurent Vernerey [SACEM], Nicolas de Ferran [SACEM] from Universal Production MusicComplete transcript available. || 13642_IBEX11years_YouTube.00214_print.jpg (1024x576) [239.3 KB] || 13642_IBEX11years_YouTube.00214_searchweb.png (320x180) [98.0 KB] || 13642_IBEX11years_YouTube.00214_thm.png (80x40) [6.7 KB] || 13642_IBEX11years_Prores-2.mov (1920x1080) [4.2 GB] || 13642_IBEX11years_YouTube.mp4 (1920x1080) [489.0 MB] || 13642_IBEX11years_Facebook.mp4 (1920x1080) [366.4 MB] || 13642_IBEX11years_Twitter.mp4 (1920x1080) [66.4 MB] || 13642_IBEX11years_YouTube.webm (1920x1080) [33.9 MB] || IBEX11years.en_US.srt [5.8 KB] || IBEX11years.en_US.vtt [5.8 KB] ||
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