NASA's New Horizons robotic interplanetary station has detected radiation emanating from a structure made of hydrogen atoms at the edge of the solar system. Scientists believe that this formation is a "hydrogen wall", but other sources of photons are possible. This is reported by Science Alert.
An ultraviolet spectrometer on board the probe recorded a hydrogen spectral line called Lyman alpha between 2007 and 2017. This line is formed by the interaction of particles emitted by the sun with hydrogen atoms and the subsequent scattering of electromagnetic waves. According to scientists, the observation is explained not only by the existence of hydrogen atoms in the solar system itself, but also outside it.
The researchers believe that such a source of hydrogen atoms is probably the "hydrogen wall". This structure is formed when the solar wind interacts with the interstellar wind. With distance from the Sun, the streams of ionized particles weaken and finally slow down when they reach the theoretical limit - the heliopause. A shock wave forms on the outside of the heliopause, where hydrogen atoms accumulate. Another source is also possible, which is located even further from Earth, but more research is needed to confirm this.
