Our solar system is only a small part of the universe. From the depth provided by the first picture of James Webber to the journey of Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 into interstellar space, it is only a drop in the ocean compared to the universe. But now, scientists have noticed a series of inexplicable changes in the edges of the solar system and interstellar space.
heliosphere top, also known as the solar wind top (heliopause), is the outermost boundary of our solar system, so it is the last barrier between our solar system space and interstellar space. Because of this, its changes have always been a question of interest to scientists. However, the recent data found point to some terrible changes that our current heliotopic model cannot explain.
These changes were found when viewing data captured by NASA Interstellar Boundary Detector (IBEX). The satellite captures several brighter high-energy neutral atoms (ENA), indicating a lack of symmetry in the helioscopic layer. In addition, when reviewing the data from Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, they found that the heliosphere top had changed.
Scientists also found that the changes in the heliosphere during the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 enter interstellar space are so drastically that they violate our current model of the boundary points of the solar system. These drastic changes can also explain why the two detectors also have such a big gap between entering interstellar medium .
Researchers published a paper on the topic earlier this month in the journal Nature-Astronomy. In it, they called the changes in the heliosphere top "potentially controversial". They also plan to continue to study the boundaries of our solar system and will use NASA’s interstellar mapping and acceleration probes to try to better understand these changes.
But before that, scientists will have to rely on spacecraft like the Voyager , as well as our existing data to learn more about interstellar space.
