NASA has sent many spacecraft to get information about the planets of our Solar System. In this series, the spacecraft Voyager 2 has crossed the limits of the solar system after a long journey of 41 years and is still sending information. Voyager 2 has now given us a lot of new information. The most important information is that as we move away from the Sun, the density of space is increasing.

Such Signs Are Not Found For The First Time

This is not the first time that information about increasing density in space has been received. Voyager 1 also entered between the stars in space in the year 2012 and also observed such changes in density at another place. New data from Voyager 2 suggests that Voyager 1's information was accurate and increases in density between stars are a large part of a Very Local Interstellar Medium (VLIM).

What Is Heliopause?

The edges of our solar system can be defined by a few different boundaries. One of these has been crossed by Voyager Probe called Heliopause. The force of the continuous supersonic wind emanating from the ionized plasma of the Sun in every direction is so weak that it cannot push back the stellar winds of the surrounding stars. This point is called the heliopause.

Shape Of Heliopause

The area within the heliopause is the heliosphere and the area outside it is called VLIM. The heliosphere is not circular. It is like an oval shape at one end and a tail at the other end. Its nose or front is in the direction of the orbit orbiting the Milky Way Galaxy of the Solar System.

Voyager 1 And Voyager 2 Crossed The Heliopause At Two Different Places

According to the study recently published in the astrophysical journal Letters, both Voyager crossed the Heliopause of the Solar System near its nose, but both had a difference of 67 degrees of heliographic latitude and 43 degrees of longitude.

Space Density

Commonly, people understand about space that it is a vacuum, but it is not completely vacuumed. In space, the density of a substance is usually very low but still. The density of protons and electrons in the solar system is 3 to 10 particles per cubic cm due to solar wind, and it decreases when away from the Sun.

Electron density

The electron's density in the interstellar space of our Milky Way Galaxy is estimated to be about 0.0037 particles per cubic cm. At the same time, the plasma density in the outer heliosphere is 0.002 electrons per cubic cm. As soon as Voyager crossed the heliopause, the plasma wave science instrument detected the electronic density of the plasma.

Measured Density Over Such A Distance

Voyager 1 crossed Heliopause on August 25, 2012, at 121.6 times the distance between the Sun and Earth from us. This distance is 18.1 billion kilometers. When Voyager 1 measured plasma oscillation, it was at a distance of 18.3 billion kilometers and measured the density of plasma, 0.055 electrons per cubic cm.

Voyager 2 crossed the Heliopause at a distance of 17.8 billion kilometers on 5 November 2018, orbiting Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, and measured the density of plasma, 0.039 electrons per cubic cm at 17.9 billion kilometers, which was nearly equal to plasma density measured by Voyager 1.

Increasing Density

Both Voyager gave information about increasing density. Voyager 1 showed an increase of 0.13 electrons per cubic cm in density after traveling for the next 2.9 billion kilometers and further, while Voyager 2 indicated a more rapid increase in density, at a rate of 0.12 electrons per cubic cm at a distance of 18.5 billion kilometers.

Electron's Density On Earth

The electron's density on Earth is about a thousand cubic cm, compared to which this density is very small, but it is enough to grab the attention of our scientists, especially when we do not know the reason for it.

According to the researchers, it may be due to a powerful magnetic field or a kind of traffic jam due to the slowing of solar winds. But researchers say that it can take a long time to find the right reason.