NASA Finds Interstellar Matter From Beyond Our Solar System 75
An anonymous reader writes "For the very first time, a NASA spacecraft has detected matter from outside our solar system — material that came from elsewhere in the galaxy. This so-called interstellar material was spotted by NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX), a spacecraft that is studying the edge of the solar system from its orbit about 200,000 miles (322,000 kilometers) above Earth. 'This alien interstellar material is really the stuff that stars and planets and people are made of — it's really important to be measuring it,' said David McComas, IBEX principal investigator."
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Captain Redundant.
Same atoms (Score:5, Interesting)
What makes this material different from that of our solar system? It's got the same kind of atoms. And why do they say *that* material is what we're made from? As far as I'm aware, we're made from the material of *our* solar system, not that of another.
Re:Same atoms (Score:5, Informative)
I think the idea is that most of the atoms we're made up of originate from before our solar system was formed. During the creation of our solar system, the matter was compressed, condensed, ignited or otherwise changed from how it existed as an interstellar gas and so doesn't exist in the same way anymore. It's not so much that we're interested in the individual atoms as we are in the collection of the interstellar material.
Re:Same atoms (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Same atoms (Score:5, Informative)
I still don't understand the "material what we're mad from" part...
It has been a while since I took astronomy so I am sure that I will get some corrections, but I will give it a shot.
:)
Right after the big bang, the universe was mostly made of of just hydorgen and helinm. Most of the rest of the elements are produced by stars. During its life and depending on how big the star is, the fusion process in the star can produce elements up to iron (I think). When the larger stars (I think it is about 10 times the size of our sun and greater) die, they go supernova. This explosive process produces the heavier elements and also dstributes them back out into the universe and in time they become the stars and planets in other solar systems like ours. So we are made from the remnents of dead stars.
Let the corrections begin
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Yes. It's not wrong enough to be replaced by something else yet.
Re: (Score:3)
It was a Carl Sagan reference.
Watch cosmos.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
There are heavy elements that the Sun doesn't contain.
Re:Same atoms (Score:4, Informative)
There are heavy elements that the Sun doesn't contain.
Not really, except for the short-lived heavy radionuclides. Even Uranium [ou.edu] has been seen in solar spectra.
Re: (Score:2)
That's the question that came to my mind (and one the other replies do not address). How do you know you are dealing with interstellar dust? It's not the oxygen to neon density, that's just a clue. It might mean you're flying though a differently concentrated part of the solar system. TFA does not seem to say this. I'm inferring that it might be because the probe is able to catch dust coming from a specific direction.
Re:Same atoms (Score:5, Informative)
You know you're dealing with something from outside the solar system because within the solar system, the solar wind (hot, fast-moving plasma) blows all diffuse material out very rapidly. If there's a large amount of material out at the edge of where we believe the boundary to be between the domain dominated by solar wind and the domain dominated by the rest of the galaxy, and that material has a composition not seen within the solar system, we can have as a very strong guess that its extra-solar. Anything else really is much less probable.
Which isn't to say that it is of the same composition as the gas+dust cloud that formed the solar system. That's long gone and the solar system has moved a lot since then.
Re:Same atoms (Score:4, Informative)
The incoming stream seen by IBEX has a O/Ne ratio falling significantly outside of the range expected for gasses of solar system origin.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I believe the "interesting" part is measuring the composition of the material, that is, the ratio between the different elements and if there are any interesting molecules there, like 'organic' chemicals. Of course, it doesn't mean all other interstellar stuff has the same composition, it's just interesting to compare this specimen to other solar-system based chunks.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
How does this spacecraft find "interstellar matter from beyond our solar system" at a distance of 200,000 miles above the Earth while the Voyagers have found what at how many billions of miles from the sun? Differences in instrumentation? Wouldn't one expect any remaining interstellar matter to be cleared by the solar wind long ago given the range of 200 kMiles? Just asking.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
The Earth's crust is mostly iron. You'd think then iron was easy to come by. It's all bound up in different chemical compounds that are hard to work with, expensive to refine, and polluting as all hell to deal with. Regions like the Mesabi Range in Minnesota have iron that's almost pure, relatively easier to work with. The problem is, places like the Mesabi Range are fairly rare.
Meteoric eviden
Re: (Score:2)
The Earth's crust is mostly iron.
I always thought that "SiAl" stood for "silicon and aluminium"...
Re: (Score:2)
What makes this material different from that of our solar system? It's got the same kind of atoms. And why do they say *that* material is what we're made from? As far as I'm aware, we're made from the material of *our* solar system, not that of another.
I want to know how it gained access to our celestial spheres and if it will do damage to the quintessence.... [wikipedia.org]
Its alien ... (Score:1)
Re:Its alien ... (Score:5, Funny)
No need to shoot it. I have a Mac: I'll upload a virus to take care of it.
Re: (Score:1)
No need to shoot it. I have a Mac: I'll upload a virus to take care of it.
I'll help you by making a GUI in VB to track it down quickly.
Re: (Score:2)
Because you can't write an emulator on a MAC?
Re: (Score:1)
SJHillman ( above ) makes an interesting point... (Score:3)
Oh boy! Star Stuff! (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Do you know who Carl Sagan is? Seriously, pulling out a B5 reference after someone has referenced the source is really weak sauce.
interstellar rocks!!! (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Yes, it's between the Sun and some stars even farther back :p
Nonsense (Score:2, Funny)
Nonsense. Genesis 1 clearly states
6. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
[...]
14. And God sa
Re: (Score:3)
I wish your joke was nearly as bonkers as some poeple are seriously trying to do.
Did you know there is a group trying to get geocentrism taught in schools?
Seriously, they even have a ridiculousn model, and of course a rewrite of known physics, to support their belief.
If people don't like science, they shouldn't be allowed to participate in the discussion.
TBH it's not those who worry me the most (Score:2)
TBH it's not those who worry me the most.
Sure, some people are stupid, and prefer to take an iron age fairy tale book for illiterate backwater tribes (even under the Romans, literacy in Palestine is estimated at 3%, and most of those in the cities) for 100% accurate, against all proof to the contrary. But at least they''re consistent about it, in their stupidity. They only have one premise they have to hang onto, to make that seem to make sense.
The ones I understand even less are those who are at least vagu
Re: (Score:2)
Not "first time", misleading linked article (Score:2, Informative)
This is not the first time matter from outside the solar system is sampled. Here's what NASA said in the press release:
"...Previous spacecraft have already provided some information about the way the galactic wind interacts with the heliosheath. Ulysses, for one, observed incoming helium as it traveled past Jupiter and measured it traveling at 59,000 miles per hour. IBEX's new information, however, shows the galactic wind traveling not only at a slower speed -- around 52,000 miles per hour -- but from a dif
Re: (Score:2)
And that was spoken like a man that fully believes that if you can feel good about it there is nothing wrong with just taking other peoples shit.
Re:Important (Score:4)
You want a living wage and health insurance? then support science. All the tech jobs, every electron you command, ever ounce of fuel you consume, exists because of science.
So it's really important to do all kinds of science.
Press Release Mania (Score:5, Insightful)
Where to start. First, go out at night - all those little dots in the sky ? They're called stars, and are all outside our solar system. (This has been known, depending on your point of view, for at least 400 years, and probably for 2 or more millennia.)
Second, it is pretty common for meteorites contain little inclusions of interstellar matter - organic matter [hawaii.edu], silica [hawaii.edu], and even (really tiny) diamonds [nature.com]. And, while we are at it, a certain fraction of the micro-meteors observed with radar (to get their orbits) turn out to be interstellar [mps.mpg.de] as well. (The fraction of interstellar micro-meteors suggests that there may be a few kg-sized interstellar meteorites waiting to be picked up out of the thousands in the Antarctic meteorite fields, which would be something.)
So, this is nice research, but it is only the first in its area, and it was silly of them to say "for the very first time."
Redundant (Score:3)
If it is from beyond our solar system, it is, by definition, interstellar.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
Nevertheless: all interstellar matter is from beyond our solar system.
Except, fairly soon, for the Voyager spacecraft.
Re: (Score:2)
Alpha Centauri (the star) is from beyond our solar system. It is NOT "interstellar".
Re: (Score:2)
"Interstellar matter found WITHIN our Solar System" would be unexpected. "Interstellar matter found outside our Solar System" is redundant, for plain (non-jargon, non-specialist) meanings of the phrase "interstellar matter".
"Ocean water found outside Hawaii" is unsurprising and redundant. "Ocean water found inside Hawaii" would be somewhat surprising (discounting wave action). "If it's beyond Hawaii, it is, by definition, ocean" is overgeneralized.
GPP overgeneralized and missed the point a bit, but the naiv
Cosmic Rays (Score:3)
High energy cosmic rays originate outside of the solar system, which has been known for many decades. Some of them are even intergalactic - having energies so high that the galactic magnetic field of the Milky Way cannot trap them.
stuff (Score:2)
"the stuff that stars and planets and people are made of"
I think we have a word for it: "matter."
Re: (Score:2)
I think we have a word for it: "matter."
Sh!!! They're dumbing it down for the Neocons.
Um... Where? (Score:2)
Isn't it all really interstellar matter though? For the same reason that the population of the Universe is 0! If you divide the amount of matter in our solar system by the amount of matter NOT in our solar system, the number is close enough to be zero that it may as well ac
Re: (Score:2)
nice Adams ref.
I'm sure (Score:2)
Cause we know for sure what Interstellar Matter looks like, right?