Posted on 10/18/2008 6:05:05 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
The protective bubble around the sun that helps to shield the Earth from harmful interstellar radiation is shrinking and getting weaker, Nasa scientists have warned.
Data has shown that the sun's heliosphere is shrinking
New data has revealed that the heliosphere, the protective shield of energy that surrounds our solar system, has weakened by 25 per cent over the past decade and is now at it lowest level since the space race began 50 years ago.
Scientists are baffled at what could be causing the barrier to shrink in this way and are to launch mission to study the heliosphere.
The Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, will be launched from an aircraft on Sunday on a Pegasus rocket into an orbit 150,000 miles above the Earth where it will "listen" for the shock wave that forms as our solar system meets the interstellar radiation.
Dr Nathan Schwadron, co-investigator on the IBEX mission at Boston University, said: "The interstellar medium, which is part of the galaxy as a whole, is actually quite a harsh environment. There is a very high energy galactic radiation that is dangerous to living things.
"Around 90 per cent of the galactic cosmic radiation is deflected by our heliosphere, so the boundary protects us from this harsh galactic environment."
The heliosphere is created by the solar wind, a combination of electrically charged particles and magnetic fields that emanate a more than a million miles an hour from the sun, meet the intergalactic gas that fills the gaps in space between solar systems.
At the boundary where they meet a shock wave is formed that deflects interstellar radiation around the solar system as it travels through the galaxy.
The scientists hope the IBEX mission will allow them to gain a better understanding of
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Solar cooling?
I am perhaps too cynical, but I question the ability to measure and subsequent accuracy of any such measurement.
The new Y2K.
One of the reasons why, despite being a science fiction fan, I’m pretty pessimistic about our chances of ever getting out of the solar system. The space between the stars is pretty nasty and inhospitable and the odds of faster-than-light travel ever being workable approach zero.
This is probably something cyclic.
Don't worry - be happy.
Think about it ... why spend your existence unhappy?
Ah hell... just send up more weather baloons to fix it... problem solved.
THEN, abolish all green house gases on earth which is clearly the reason for it’s decay.
Besides that, the story is out today and they’re launching the IBEX tomorrow. NASA is a government agency. When did they really discover this-10 years ago?
It is for sure that Algore’s “carbon offsets” won’t have any effect—except on our pocketbooks!
There is not enough data to put this in a meaningful context.
I wonder if this is just typical NASA doom and gloom to justify another probe.
They've known about this for so long they had time to build a special probe, yet this is the first announcement of a possible end of life on earth?
Well, every time they need some bucks for a Mars landing, they discover another life possibility or water.
This one will probably be an excuse for a Moon colony.
yitbos
Likely, James Hansen, NASA administrator and nutcase promoter of hysterical “global warming” theories has been hiding this info just like he did the fallacy of the “hockey stick” curve.
“...the heliosphere...has weakened
by 25 per cent over the past decade...”
- - -
Is this a bad thing?
Should I go ahead and cash out my 401K now?
I need to know.
Might want to hold onto your wallet. I hate to think what congress will do when they find out that the solar bubble is collapsing.
I thought he said that we won't get fooled by O'Reilly again?
I think this is something our federal government should put it’s best resources to work to find solutions. We can’t leave the Sun, which we depend on for everything we enjoy in life, behind. Surely, we can find it in our hearts to bring harmony to the solar system, and make it our collective responsibility to make the appropriate sacrifices.
“Scientists are baffled at what could be causing the barrier to shrink”
They should just ask Al Gore, he’s got all the answers about this, he calls it climate change and it’s all our fault! Silly scientists.
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