heliosphere
Sign in to saveThe heliosphere is the magnetosphere, astrosphere, and outermost atmospheric layer of the Sun. It takes the shape of a vast, tailed bubble-like region of space. In plasma physics terms, it is the cavity formed by the Sun in the surrounding interstellar medium. The "bubble" of the heliosphere is continuously "inflated" by plasma originating from the Sun, known as the solar wind. Outside the heliosphere, this solar plasma gives way to the interstellar plasma permeating the Milky Way. As part of the interplanetary magnetic field, the heliosphere shields the Solar System from significant amounts o
AI overview
The heliosphere is a vast, bubble-like region of space created and continuously inflated by the solar wind—plasma flowing outward from the Sun—that separates our Solar System from the interstellar medium surrounding it. It matters because this "bubble" shields the Solar System from significant amounts of interstellar plasma and radiation that would otherwise reach us.
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Article
24 sectionsContents
- History
- Structure
- Solar wind
- Heliospheric current sheet
- Edge structure
- Termination shock
- Heliosheath
- Heliopause
- Heliotail
- Outside structures
- Hydrogen wall
- Bow shock
- Observational methods
- Detection by spacecraft
- ''Cassini'' results
- IBEX results
- Locally
- Exploration history
- Timeline of exploration and detection
- See also
- References
- Sources
- Further reading
- External links
The heliosphere is the magnetosphere, astrosphere, and outermost atmospheric layer of the Sun. It takes the shape of a vast, tailed bubble-like region of space. In plasma physics terms, it is the cavity formed by the Sun in the surrounding interstellar medium. The "bubble" of the heliosphere is continuously "inflated" by plasma originating from the Sun, known as the solar wind. Outside the heliosphere, this solar plasma gives way to the interstellar plasma permeating the Milky Way. As part of the interplanetary magnetic field, the heliosphere shields the Solar System from significant amounts of cosmic ionizing radiation; uncharged gamma rays are, however, not affected. Its name was likely coined by Alexander J. Dessler, who is credited with the first use of the word in the scientific literature in 1967. The scientific study of the heliosphere is heliophysics, which includes space weather and space climate.
Flowing unimpeded through the Solar System for billions of kilometers, the solar wind extends far beyond even the region of Pluto until it encounters the "termination shock", where its motion slows abruptly due to the outside pressure of the interstellar medium. The "heliosheath" is a broad transitional region between the termination shock and the heliosphere's outmost edge, the "heliopause". The overall shape of the heliosphere resembles that of a comet, being roughly spherical on one side to around 100 astronomical units (AU), and on the other side being tail shaped, known as the "heliotail", trailing for several thousands of AUs.