Motherboard: In 2008 NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) discovered an unexpected ribbon of energetic neutral atoms streaming through the solar system after being generated in the solar system’s heliosheath. Now Eric Zirnstein of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, and his colleagues believe they have an explanation for the creation of the ribbon. Using IBEX data, the scientists ran simulations that suggest that as protons in the solar wind pass through the heliopause, they gain electrons, then lose and gain them again in the turbulent region where the solar wind interacts with the interstellar medium. If the protons regain the electrons at just the right time, they are bounced back into the solar system as neutral atoms in a narrow stream that IBEX can detect.
Despite the tumultuous history of the near-Earth object’s parent body, water may have been preserved in the asteroid for about a billion years.
October 08, 2025 08:50 PM
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Physics Today - The Week in Physics
The Week in Physics" is likely a reference to the regular updates or summaries of new physics research, such as those found in publications like Physics Today from AIP Publishing or on news aggregators like Phys.org.