Insecure border in the form of galactic cosmic rays

The detection advise that the defensive border that separate our solar system from the rest of the galaxy lack the bow shock, because confirmed in the current scientific theories and could have implication on how much radiation (in the form of galactic cosmic rays) enters our solar system. For about a quarter of a century, researchers believed that the heliosphere is moving through the interstellar medium at a rate fast enough to form a bow shock. However, IBEX data have shown that the heliosphere actually moves through the local interstellar cloud at 83,685 kilometers per hour, about 11,200 kilometers an hour slower than previously thought. The bow shock would ionize gas or plasma changes abruptly and discontinuously in density in the region of space that is ahead of the heliosphere.

"The sonic boom made ​​by a plane breaking the sound barrier on earth is an example of a bow shock," says Dr. David McComas, principal investigator IBEX mission. Magnetic pressure "As reaches supersonic speeds, the air ahead of the aircraft cannot exit fast enough way. At once the aircraft reaches the speed of sound, an instantaneous change in the shape of the interaction, ensuing in a shock wave. While it is true that there are bow shocks ahead of many other stars, we are finding that the interaction of our sun does not reach the critical threshold to form a bow shock, so a wave is a more accurate representation of what is passing in front of our heliosphere, similar to the wave made ​​by the bow of a boat that glides across the water, "says McComas. Another influence is the magnetic pressure in the interstellar medium. IBEX data and previous Voyager observations show that the magnetic field is stronger in the interstellar medium, thus requiring even faster speeds to produce a shock wave.