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SPACE . . . The final frontier

What's out there?

Space is supposedly the “Final Frontier”.  However, as only 5 - 15% of the ocean floor on our own planet has been mapped, I argue that our oceans are the final frontier.  We’ve got better maps of Pluto than of our own planet!  Exploring is a valuable tool to help identify what exists.  Will you find good things, like the alien “Thor” from the TV show ‘Stargate SG1’?  Bad things, like the xenomorphs from the ‘Aliens’ movies?  Or neutral things, like the TARDIS from the Doctor Who TV show?  Gotta get out there and look to find out!

Image showing the Earth, the alien Thor from ‘Stargate SG1’, a xenomorphs from the ‘Aliens’ movies, the Enterprise from Star Trek, and the TARDIS from the Doctor Who TV show

Composite image sources: 1)  "From a Million Miles Away, Moon Crossing Face of Earth " by NASA is in the Public Domain;  2)  "Alien: Covenant – 7” Scale Action Figure – Xenomorph" by Figures.com is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0;  3)  "Thor" by Syfy.com is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0;  4)  "Tardis" by Babbel1996 is licensed under CC BY 2.5;  5)  "USS Enterprise NCC-1701" by dave_7 is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

 

What is “Space”?

Interstellar space:  a vacuum with a virtual absence of matter.  The closer you get to a star, the more matter there is.

Why? 

Because the Sun ejects matter outward into space as the solar wind.  The Solar wind is comprised of magnetically charged particles that stream outward in all directions from the sun.  Those magnetically charged particles are Protons    (+ charge) and Electrons (– charge).

The solar wind only extends so far.  The heliosphere is a bubble created by the solar wind as it's ejected by the sun, and gradually fades out where it meets interstellar space (aka the termination shock).  Everything within the bubble is a part of our solar system.

This graphic shows the position of NASA's Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes, outside of the heliosphere, a protective bubble created by the Sun that extends well past the orbit of Pluto.

Image source:  "PIA22835: Two Interstellar Travelers" by NASA/JPL-Caltech is in the Public Domain

 

How did the solar system form?  Read on . . .


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