Voyagers detect local Fluff that shouldn't exist

[MeteorWayne]

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009 ... oyager.htm

December 23, 2009: The solar system is passing through an interstellar cloud that physics says should not exist. In the Dec. 24th issue of Nature, a team of scientists reveal how NASA's Voyager spacecraft have solved the mystery.

"Using data from Voyager, we have discovered a strong magnetic field just outside the solar system," explains lead author Merav Opher, a NASA Heliophysics Guest Investigator from George Mason University. "This magnetic field holds the interstellar cloud together and solves the long-standing puzzle of how it can exist at all."

{snip}

"Voyager data show that the Fluff is much more strongly magnetized than anyone had previously suspected—between 4 and 5 microgauss*," says Opher. "This magnetic field can provide the extra pressure required to resist destruction."

{snip}

The fact that the Fluff is strongly magnetized means that other clouds in the galactic neighborhood could be, too. Eventually, the solar system will run into some of them, and their strong magnetic fields could compress the heliosphere even more than it is compressed now. Additional compression could allow more cosmic rays to reach the inner solar system

 

[Boris_Badenov]

Damned interesting!!! How is the cloud creating & maintaining it magnetic field, do you think? Could it be simple as the atoms rubbing up against each other?

 

[grokme]

Wow, I wasn't even aware we were still getting transmissions from the Voyagers.

 

[michaelmozina]

Damned interesting!!! How is the cloud creating & maintaining it magnetic field, do you think? Could it be simple as the atoms rubbing up against each other?

Probably not. Static electricity wouldn't last long, but a sustained "current flow" of moving charged particles would probably do the trick.

 

[R1]

A long time ago, Carl Sagan talked about interstellar ramjets, but I think the idea was to electrically charge
things for propulsion. So would magnetic fluff make things easier now?

Here is the video segment, by the way, but only in the first part of the video he talks about the ramjet.
If magnetism is used, could a massless magnetic sail/propeller be used instead of scooping up actual particles?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDKKbRxo5gI[/youtube]

 

[michaelmozina]

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/23dec_voyager.htm

December 23, 2009: The solar system is passing through an interstellar cloud that physics says should not exist. In the Dec. 24th issue of Nature, a team of scientists reveal how NASA's Voyager spacecraft have solved the mystery.

"Using data from Voyager, we have discovered a strong magnetic field just outside the solar system," explains lead author Merav Opher, a NASA Heliophysics Guest Investigator from George Mason University. "This magnetic field holds the interstellar cloud together and solves the long-standing puzzle of how it can exist at all."

But of course that observation begs the question about what sustains the "magnetic" (not "electromagnetic"?) field?

"Voyager data show that the Fluff is much more strongly magnetized than anyone had previously suspected—between 4 and 5 microgauss*," says Opher. "This magnetic field can provide the extra pressure required to resist destruction."

Sure as long as something sustains the field.

The fact that the Fluff is strongly magnetized means that other clouds in the galactic neighborhood could be, too.

Why? What's the "cause" of that magnetic field?

Eventually, the solar system will run into some of them, and their strong magnetic fields could compress the heliosphere even more than it is compressed now. Additional compression could allow more cosmic rays to reach the inner solar system

They again seem to be assuming a stable magnetic field in very light plasma but offer no explanation of how it's sustained there, or why it's sustained at approximately a 6000K temperature for that matter. There's one obvious solution, but that involves the dreaded "electro-" part of electromagnetism to be put back into articles and papers and the mainstream doesn't seem willing to do that.

That scenario is not likely. The notion of "frozen in" magnetic field lines in light plasma is simply not tenable. Something has to sustain the *ELECTRO*magnetic field.

 

[thnkrx]

They again seem to be assuming a stable magnetic field in very light plasma but offer no explanation of how it's sustained there, or why it's sustained at approximately a 6000K temperature for that matter. There's one obvious solution, but that involves the dreaded "electro-" part of electromagnetism to be put back into articles and papers and the mainstream doesn't seem willing to do that.

That scenario is not likely. The notion of "frozen in" magnetic field lines in light plasma is simply not tenable. Something has to sustain the *ELECTRO*magnetic field.

Enter Horza stage left?

Or maybe this is a manifestation of so called 'dark energy'...

Apart from that, a much denser than expected region of charged interstellar particles would be good news for a buzzard ramjet...

 

[Fallingstar1971]

The Voyagers, simply put, ROCK!

I remember them going up, and all those wonderful photos.......

Even today their radio-isotopic (I think thats right) generators are still producing power, but I think they are down to just 4 instruments a piece

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... r_1%29.png

This was the very last picture taken from Voyager One. It shows us home in a way never before seen. Even with its filters cranked to the max, the Sun is still SO bright that its light contaminates the photo with flares and artifacts everywhere, but this is it. THIS is why we go. To see what has never been seen, to know what has never been known.

Those two little buggers are still to this day producing valuable science. And who knows, perhaps one day someone will come knocking on Earths front door with one of the voyagers saying "Umm excuse us, but did you loose this?"

I wondered if they fully considered the power issues.....if the generators die, then how will ET play the record? Think they may have a compatible power source?

Star


PS As far as whats causing the magnetic field, any charged particles generate an electro-magnetic field. Electricity and Magnetism go hand and hand. To acknowledge one without the other is silly IMO. The question now isn't whether or not its there, the question now is how can we harness it, use it, interact with it. Because through induction we can now power our spaceship for free, but first we must understand how the interstellar version of this field works.

The sun has heavy elements, so does Earth. It stands to reason that if the stars in our local neighborhood come from the same stock, then they should have similar elements. If that is the case, any heavy elements left over would be conductive (gold, copper, blah blah) and if its leftover it would be on the boundaries of these systems. Apply some magnetism and we have current. Apply current in a conductor or heavy element and you have magnetism. Once started they can maintain one another until the power source (Stars) are exhausted. Any water ice would be conductive as well. (What happens when you drop a hairdryer in a bathtub? One crispy critter is what!)\

Star

 

[acsinnz]

Hi Micmoz
"They again seem to be assuming a stable magnetic field in very light plasma but offer no explanation of how it's sustained there, or why it's sustained at approximately a 6000K temperature for that matter. There's one obvious solution, but that involves the dreaded "electro-" part of electromagnetism to be put back into articles and papers and the mainstream doesn't seem willing to do that.

That scenario is not likely. The notion of "frozen in" magnetic field lines in light plasma is simply not tenable. Something has to sustain the *ELECTRO*magnetic field."
I sure agree that electromagnetism or magnoflux energy should be included in any unified approach to solving the universe.
The magnetic fluff sensed by Voyager could presumably not be seen or verified by Hubble telescope as magnetic lines and associated magnetic energy have no mass. Or is there something there???
Happy Christmas
Clive