this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2024
872 points (99.4% liked)
Technology
59607 readers
3533 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related content.
- Be excellent to each another!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Approved Bots
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
So some years ago, the probe went into some area between our solar system and interstellar space. Getting info back about that is quite useful in learning more about that area.
I'm not sure if its through it yet, but if it is, then we're getting data back about what's after that as well. Does that data change over time? What if there's yet another transition area and we learn about it?
Having something actually there helps us know if all these theories are right, and the more data we get, the more sure we can be
How is there space between the solar system and interstellar space? Isn't interstellar just everything between the star systems?
Out past the planets is the heliopause, the final boundary between the solar system and interstellar space. Voyager discovered it, but other probes have confirmed it. The radiation and particles emitted by the sun create a pressurized bubble around it, where plasma (energized particles, mostly hydrogen) is much denser than past the heliopause. Cosmic rays are more prevalent outside it.
I've heard it compared to the empty zone around where a sink faucet first hits, creating a little "wall" of water around it as the splashing water pushes back the standing water.
"Empty" space is anything but. There's tons of particles and energy flying though it, just not as dense.
That sink analogy is great. It's even non uniform like the heliopause
The solar winds interact with interstellar winds and create a threshold between the two
https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/news/details.php?article_id=14