IBEX Stories
Our corner of the universe, the solar system, is nestled inside the Milky Way galaxy, home to more than 100 billion stars. The solar system is encased in a bubble called the heliosphere, which separates us from the vast galaxy…
Only the two Voyager spacecraft have ever been there, and it took than more than 30 years of supersonic travel. It lies well past the orbit of Pluto, through the rocky Kuiper belt, and on for four times that distance.…
Scientists have developed a new prediction of the shape of the bubble surrounding our solar system using a model developed with data from NASA missions. All the planets of our solar system are encased in a magnetic bubble, carved out…
Far, far beyond the orbits of the planets lie the hazy contours of the magnetic bubble in space that we call home. This is the heliosphere, the vast bubble that is generated by the Sun’s magnetic field and envelops all…
What happens when the solar wind suddenly starts to blow significantly harder? According to two recent studies, the boundaries of our entire solar system balloon outward — and an analysis of particles rebounding off of its edges will reveal its…