NASA probe on brink of solar system detects cosmic ray increase

Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-08 02:39:08|Editor: ZX
Video PlayerClose

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- American space agency NASA's probe, on a way to interstellar space, detected an increase in cosmic rays that originated outside the solar system, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab.

Voyager 2, launched in 1977, is about 17.7 billion kilometers from Earth, more than 118 times the distance from Earth to the Sun. And it will become the second human-made object, after Voyager 1, to enter interstellar space after it exits the heliosphere.

An cosmic ray instrument on the probe had measured about a 5 percent increase in the rate of cosmic rays since late August, compared to early August. Another instrument on it also detected a similar increase in higher-energy cosmic rays, fast-moving particles that originate outside the solar system.

Some of these cosmic rays are blocked by the heliosphere, so mission planners expect that Voyager 2 will measure an increase in the rate of cosmic rays as it approaches and crosses the boundary of the heliosphere, according to NASA's recent statement.

In May 2012, Voyager 1 experienced an increase in the rate of cosmic rays approximately three months before Voyager 1 crossed the heliopause and entered interstellar space.

However, the increase in cosmic rays is not a definitive sign that the probe is about to cross the heliopause.

Voyager 2 is in a different location in the "heliosheath" or the outer region of the heliosphere than Voyager 1 had been, and possible differences in these locations points to the fact that Voyager 2 may experience a different exit timeline than Voyager 1, partly because the heliopause moves inward and outward during the Sun's 11-year activity cycle.

TOP STORIES
EDITOR’S CHOICE
MOST VIEWED
EXPLORE XINHUANET
010020070750000000000000011100001375168701
国产无码在线观看免费在线,37pao国产成视频,日韩一区二区视频在线,国产国产人免费人成免费视频麻豆
亚洲成a×人片在线观看 | 天天爽天天狠久久综合 | 在线网址亚洲精品你懂的 | 日本中文字幕乱码在线精品 | 亚洲综合狠狠丁香五月 | 日韩亚洲中文字幕永久在线 |