1
00:00:01,167 --> 00:00:05,905
Did you know that we live in a giant
magnetic bubble created by the Sun?

2
00:00:06,373 --> 00:00:10,810
This bubble is known as the heliosphere
and it was discovered in the 1950s.

3
00:00:11,111 --> 00:00:13,413
The heliosphere is huge –

4
00:00:13,413 --> 00:00:18,818
our best guess is that the boundary lies
at least 10 billion miles from Earth!

5
00:00:19,419 --> 00:00:23,056
Scientist are still learning
exactly what this bubble is shaped like –

6
00:00:23,390 --> 00:00:27,127
but NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX mission,

7
00:00:27,127 --> 00:00:29,996
has helped researchers
learn something new about it.

8
00:00:30,330 --> 00:00:33,366
They’ve found that this bubble has ripples!

9
00:00:33,833 --> 00:00:36,736
And not only that – the ripples
appear to change.

10
00:00:37,404 --> 00:00:41,775
Scientists are now trying to find out
why the heliosphere has this texture

11
00:00:42,108 --> 00:00:44,511
and why these ripples change over time.

12
00:00:45,245 --> 00:00:48,915
Scientists think these ripples
could be caused by changes in the outward

13
00:00:48,915 --> 00:00:52,485
pressure of the solar wind,
the constant stream of particles

14
00:00:52,485 --> 00:00:55,288
and magnetic fields
flowing off of the Sun.

15
00:00:55,488 --> 00:00:59,759
Since the Sun cycles
between periods of high and low activity,

16
00:00:59,759 --> 00:01:01,628
the boundary of the heliosphere,

17
00:01:01,628 --> 00:01:05,265
called the heliopause,
may change and oscillate over time.

18
00:01:05,732 --> 00:01:09,102
According to the researchers,
the ripples on the heliopause

19
00:01:09,369 --> 00:01:13,173
may be caused by instabilities
that evolve over the solar cycle.

20
00:01:13,706 --> 00:01:15,108
Future NASA missions

21
00:01:15,108 --> 00:01:18,578
will help us discover
more about this mysterious bubble

22
00:01:18,745 --> 00:01:19,879
we live in.