“We assume that there is something else, some additional source of brightness,” says Gizmodo researcher Randy Gladstone of the Southwest Institute. “If we succeed, New Horizons can capture it.”
The Sun’s light sends charged particles in all directions, and they lead to the fact that the hydrogen particles in the space between the planets release characteristic ultraviolet light. Ultimately, the energy of the Sun weakens, creating a boundary where interstellar hydrogen accumulates at the boundary of the outgoing pressure caused by the energy of the solar wind.
What is on the edge of the solar system?
Scientists received a 360-degree review of this ultraviolet emission using the Alice tool “New Horizons”. But at a certain distance from the Sun, brightness is added to this signal, possibly from particles of hydrogen outside the solar system interacting with distant solar wind. The work was published in Geophysical Research Letters.
The probe “Voyager” found a similar signature thirty years ago. However, a second analysis showed. that Voyager scientists overestimated the strength of the signal. After correction, however, they became similar to the results of the “New horizons”. Perhaps the signal comes from somewhere else, but the collected data at least confirm its existence, whether it is a hydrogen wall or something else. Scientists plan to observe the signal twice a year.
“New Horizons” is preparing to visit the Kuiper belt object 2014 MU69, a 30-kilometer stone, and then proceed to the edge of the solar system.
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