The young star LL Ori forms a bow shock as it moves through the Orion Nebula. Image courtesy STScI/AURA/NASA
Posted on 05/14/2012 3:47:03 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The sun is moving through the Milky Way slower than previously thought, according to new data from a NASA spacecraft.
From its orbit around Earth, the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) satellite measured the speeds of interstellar particles entering at the fringes of our solar system, 9 billion miles (14.5 billion kilometers) from the sun.
Plugging the new data into computer models, the IBEX team calculates that the sun is moving at about 52,000 miles (83,700 kilometers) an hour -- about 7,000 miles (11,000 kilometers) slower than thought.
The discovery suggests that the protective boundary separating our solar system from the rest of the galaxy is missing a bow shock, a major structural component thought to control the influx of high-energy cosmic rays.
The sun is constantly sending out charged particles in all directions, forming a cocoon around the solar system called the heliosphere.
Like a boat moving through water, it's long been thought that the "bow" of the heliosphere forms a crescent-shaped shockwave as our solar system plows through the surrounding cloud of interstellar gas.
But the new IBEX findings mean the sun is moving so slow that pressure from material flowing around the heliosphere is 25 percent lower than expected -- not enough for a bow shock.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
The young star LL Ori forms a bow shock as it moves through the Orion Nebula. Image courtesy STScI/AURA/NASA
It is ExxonMobil’s fault.
An “extra, extra” ping to the APoD list members.
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warp factor 0.0001 Mr. Sulu
I thought I’d just put on a few pounds.
Oh crap........HONEY!!!!!!!!
sun is moving at about 52,000 miles per hour
That is about 1.24 million miles per day.
It may be slower, but it is still moving at a whopping speed to somewhere.
Aw crap. We’ll NEVER make the Forshund Empire border on time at THIS pokey rate.
I can feel it. Been feeling kind of sluggish lately.
You mean that wasn’t “settled science”?
Science is never settled, although scientific theories that are most widely accepted are considered to be far better than its alternatives. As a result, there is very little active discussion on the alternatives, except by kooks and those with agenda.
It is true, indeed. Days have been getting longer, I’ve noticed, as sun moves slower across the sky.
I thought Zero said it is Bush's fault...or the Republican or the tea Party...
I guess the traffic jam in our spiral arm is worse than traffic reports thought.
the spiral pattern in our Galaxy called spiral arms. ... Differential rotation provides an easy way to produce a spiral ... for the local radio station sees a traffic jam at ...
http://www.astronomynotes.com/ismnotes/s8.htm
Damn, I knew it!!!! November 6th should have gotten here by now.
Presumably, compared to the surrounding galaxy, although the writer failed to specify that. He utterly fails to reckon with the velocity of the galaxy itself.
Thanks campaignPete R-CT.
Clearly Bush’s fault.
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