{ "id": 10790, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10790/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Voyager Satellites Find Magnetic Bubbles at Edge of Solar System", "description": "The sun's magnetic field spins opposite directions on the north and south poles. These oppositely pointing magnetic fields are separated by a layer of current called the heliospheric current sheet. Due to the tilt of the magnetic axis in relation to the axis of rotation of the Sun, the heliospheric current sheet flaps like a flag in the wind. The flapping current sheet separates regions of oppositely pointing magnetic field, called sectors. As the solar wind speed decreases past the termination shock, the sectors squeeze together, bringing regions of opposite magnetic field closer to each other. The Voyager spacecraft have now found that when the separation of sectors becomes very small, the sectored magnetic field breaks up into a sea of nested \"magnetic bubbles\" in a phenomenon called magnetic reconnection. The region of nested bubbles is carried by the solar wind to the north and south filling out the entire front region of the heliopause and the sector region in the heliosheath.This discovery has prompted a complete revision of what the heliosheath region looks like. The smooth, streamlined look is gone, replaced with a bubbly, frothy outer layer. More animations about the Voyager magnetic bubbles discovery are available. || ", "release_date": "2011-06-09T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:53:45.657345-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 485547, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010700/a010790/bubbles_Clean1384.jpg", "filename": "bubbles_Clean1384.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Short narrated video about Voyager bubble region discovery.For complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 }, "main_video": { "id": 485551, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010700/a010790/10790_Voyager_Heliosheath_Bubbles_H264_1280x720_30.mov", "filename": "10790_Voyager_Heliosheath_Bubbles_H264_1280x720_30.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Short narrated video about Voyager bubble region discovery.For complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 }, "main_credits": { "Visualizations by": [ { "name": "Walt Feimer", "employer": "HTSI" } ] }, "progress": "Complete", "media_groups": [ { "id": 351787, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10790/#media_group_351787", "widget": "Basic text with HTML", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "The sun's magnetic field spins opposite directions on the north and south poles. These oppositely pointing magnetic fields are separated by a layer of current called the heliospheric current sheet. Due to the tilt of the magnetic axis in relation to the axis of rotation of the Sun, the heliospheric current sheet flaps like a flag in the wind. The flapping current sheet separates regions of oppositely pointing magnetic field, called sectors. As the solar wind speed decreases past the termination shock, the sectors squeeze together, bringing regions of opposite magnetic field closer to each other. The Voyager spacecraft have now found that when the separation of sectors becomes very small, the sectored magnetic field breaks up into a sea of nested \"magnetic bubbles\" in a phenomenon called magnetic reconnection. The region of nested bubbles is carried by the solar wind to the north and south filling out the entire front region of the heliopause and the sector region in the heliosheath.

This discovery has prompted a complete revision of what the heliosheath region looks like. The smooth, streamlined look is gone, replaced with a bubbly, frothy outer layer.

More animations about the Voyager magnetic bubbles discovery are available.", "items": [], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 351788, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10790/#media_group_351788", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Short narrated video about Voyager bubble region discovery.

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In this view, scientists expected the heliopause, the boundary that separates where the solar wind dominates from where the interstellar wind dominates, to be smooth and the associated smooth magnetic field to shield us from the interstellar medium and galactic cosmic rays.Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/ CI Lab", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } }, { "id": 330239, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 485581, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010700/a010790/OldHeliopauseHiRes.jpg", "filename": "OldHeliopauseHiRes.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Artist's interpretation of the \"standard\" old view of the heliosphere: the magnetic field lines in the heliosheath connect back to the sun everywhere (some field lines are shown in red and blue). 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In this view, scientists expected the heliopause, the boundary that separates where the solar wind dominates from where the interstellar wind dominates, to be smooth and the associated smooth magnetic field to shield us from the interstellar medium and galactic cosmic rays.Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/ CI Lab", "width": 320, "height": 180, "pixels": 57600 } }, { "id": 330240, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 485579, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010700/a010790/OldHeliopause.tif", "filename": "OldHeliopause.tif", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Artist's interpretation of the \"standard\" old view of the heliosphere: the magnetic field lines in the heliosheath connect back to the sun everywhere (some field lines are shown in red and blue). In this view, scientists expected the heliopause, the boundary that separates where the solar wind dominates from where the interstellar wind dominates, to be smooth and the associated smooth magnetic field to shield us from the interstellar medium and galactic cosmic rays.Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/ CI Lab", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } }, { "id": 330238, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 485578, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010700/a010790/OldHeliopauseHiRes.tif", "filename": "OldHeliopauseHiRes.tif", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Artist's interpretation of the \"standard\" old view of the heliosphere: the magnetic field lines in the heliosheath connect back to the sun everywhere (some field lines are shown in red and blue). In this view, scientists expected the heliopause, the boundary that separates where the solar wind dominates from where the interstellar wind dominates, to be smooth and the associated smooth magnetic field to shield us from the interstellar medium and galactic cosmic rays.Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/ CI Lab", "width": 4000, "height": 2250, "pixels": 9000000 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 351792, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10790/#media_group_351792", "widget": "Basic text", "title": "For More Information", "caption": "", "description": "See [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/heliosphere-surprise.html](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/heliosphere-surprise.html)", "items": [], "extra_data": {} } ], "studio": "gms", "funding_sources": [ "NASA Heliophysics" ], "credits": [ { "role": "Animator", "people": [ { "name": "Walt Feimer", "employer": "HTSI" }, { "name": "Michael Lentz", "employer": "UMBC" }, { "name": "Chris Smith", "employer": "HTSI" }, { "name": "Tom Bridgman", "employer": "Global Science and Technology, Inc." } ] }, { "role": "Video editor", "people": [ { "name": "Scott Wiessinger", "employer": "USRA" } ] }, { "role": "Narrator", "people": [ { "name": "Scott Wiessinger", "employer": "USRA" } ] }, { "role": "Producer", "people": [ { "name": "Scott Wiessinger", "employer": "USRA" } ] }, { "role": "Scientist", "people": [ { "name": "Merav Opher", "employer": "Boston University" } ] }, { "role": "Writer", "people": [ { "name": "Scott Wiessinger", "employer": "USRA" }, { "name": "Karen Fox", "employer": "ADNET Systems, Inc." } ] } ], "missions": [ "IBEX", "Voyager" ], "series": [ "Goddard Shorts", "Narrated Movies", "Voyager and the Heliopause" ], "tapes": [ "Voyager Magnetic Bubbles (Produced by: Robert Crippen)" ], "papers": [], "datasets": [], "nasa_science_categories": [ "Planets & Moons", "Sun", "Universe" ], "keywords": [ "Cassini", "Cosmic Rays", "Earth Science", "Edited Feature", "HDTV", "Heliopause", "Heliosheath", "Heliosphere", "IBEX", "magnetic field", "Magnetosphere", "Narrated", "Solar Activity", "Solar Wind", "Sun", "Sun-earth Interactions", "Voyager" ], "recommended_pages": [], "related": [ { "id": 10866, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10866/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Bubbles At The Edge Of The Solar System", "description": "After a three-decade journey away from Earth, the two Voyager spacecraft are approaching the outer edges of the solar system. To scientists' surprise, the satellites have revealed a region vastly different than previously modeled. The solar system's boundary is defined by a steady stream of particles known as the solar wind. The solar wind shoots out from the sun until it pushes up against the galactic medium and slows down at a line called the termination shock. Beyond this lies the heliosheath, where the solar wind's journey stops completely. Scientists thought the solar wind turned back smoothly at this point, sweeping back around the outskirts of the solar system. As seen in the video below, Voyager now shows that solar wind hits the heliosheath and piles up into a frothy layer filled with magnetic bubbles. This layer must have an affect on how intense energetic particles from the rest of the universe, called cosmic rays, make it into our solar system. But scientists have yet to figure out if the bubbles help stop the bulk of the rays, or are the prime factor that allows them to enter. || ", "release_date": "2011-11-24T00:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:53:27.068327-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 480811, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010800/a010866/87_STILL3_1024x576.jpg", "filename": "87_STILL3_1024x576.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "NASA's two Voyager spacecraft reveal the frothy border of the solar system.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } ], "sources": [], "products": [], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [] }