Scientists find Earth's "Shield Bubble" is Shrinking Rapidly
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Pastor Dale Morgan
Oct 5, 2010, 10:22:44 PM10/5/10
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Perilous Times
Scientists find Earth's "Shield Bubble" is Shrinking Rapidly
October 03, 2010 11:37 PM EDT
A tiny satellite circling the Earth showed scientists and researchers that Earth's solar shield, the heliosphere, is changing much more rapidly than anticipated.
The "invisible bubble" protects us from more than 90 percent of cosmic rays that enter it. In a study published Thursday, scientists reported the technology they used in order to map the heliosphere for the first time in history. According to the Los Angeles Times, scientists were not able to obtain images of the heliosphere because it does not emit any light. They then developed a new technology by the name of IBEX in 2008 which not only was able to map the heliosphere but was able to paint a picture of what exists out there, and it was not the "relatively uniform sphere" they had expected to see.
What they saw instead from the satellite image was "a ribbon of unusually high-energy particles that dipped downward from the North Pole across the solar system equator and back." In addition, they also found an unexpected bright spot in the northern parts of the ribbon "that researchers dubbed a knot." Over the course of just six months, the scientists found that this knot had dispelled and was hardly distinguishable at all -- a lot of change for such a short period of time.
With more and more flights taking off into space, this poses an interesting new twist for researchers. The sun releases streams of particles traveling outward at about 1 million mph. The particles travel outward beyond "the outer planets" colliding with stars and deflecting cosmic rays as they return to the inner solar system.
With this study, they have found that there must be a greater amount of solar activity going on, and as they find that the protective layer of the heliosphere is shrinking and letting in more radiation, it can be dangerous not only for those of us on Earth, but for astronauts traveling into space with a significantly greater amount of particles to dodge. Basically, the scientists are reporting that our protective shield is leaking! Although the researchers have not yet found the cause, it would not be surprising if they linked this new finding to global warming.
Scientists find Earth's "Shield Bubble" is Shrinking Rapidly
October 03, 2010 11:37 PM EDT
A tiny satellite circling the Earth showed scientists and researchers that Earth's solar shield, the heliosphere, is changing much more rapidly than anticipated.
The "invisible bubble" protects us from more than 90 percent of cosmic rays that enter it. In a study published Thursday, scientists reported the technology they used in order to map the heliosphere for the first time in history. According to the Los Angeles Times, scientists were not able to obtain images of the heliosphere because it does not emit any light. They then developed a new technology by the name of IBEX in 2008 which not only was able to map the heliosphere but was able to paint a picture of what exists out there, and it was not the "relatively uniform sphere" they had expected to see.
What they saw instead from the satellite image was "a ribbon of unusually high-energy particles that dipped downward from the North Pole across the solar system equator and back." In addition, they also found an unexpected bright spot in the northern parts of the ribbon "that researchers dubbed a knot." Over the course of just six months, the scientists found that this knot had dispelled and was hardly distinguishable at all -- a lot of change for such a short period of time.
With more and more flights taking off into space, this poses an interesting new twist for researchers. The sun releases streams of particles traveling outward at about 1 million mph. The particles travel outward beyond "the outer planets" colliding with stars and deflecting cosmic rays as they return to the inner solar system.
With this study, they have found that there must be a greater amount of solar activity going on, and as they find that the protective layer of the heliosphere is shrinking and letting in more radiation, it can be dangerous not only for those of us on Earth, but for astronauts traveling into space with a significantly greater amount of particles to dodge. Basically, the scientists are reporting that our protective shield is leaking! Although the researchers have not yet found the cause, it would not be surprising if they linked this new finding to global warming.
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