Huge Space Bubble Called the ‘Heliosphere’ Allows Life to Exist on Earth, and We Know Very Little About It

An extraordinary structure called the “heliosphere” envelops our entire solar system in a protective bubble. NASA’s new mission, IMAP, will get close enough to the Sun to investigate how the heliosphere works.

Inflated by the Sun, the heliosphere shields Earth and our planetary neighbors from deadly cosmic radiation that travels at the speed of light, allowing life on this beautiful blue marble to survive and thrive.

The Sun is constantly emitting bursts of charged particles – protons, electrons, and ions – at speeds of more than a million miles per hour.

This colossal stream, which is referred to as the solar wind, fills out the heliosphere and sets it ballooning billions of miles outward.

Earth has its own protection too – our magnetic field – but that only covers our planet. For everything else in the solar system, the heliosphere takes on the heavy lifting. (Read more from “Huge Space Bubble Called the ‘Heliosphere’ Allows Life to Exist on Earth, and We Know Very Little About It” HERE)