Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
v. t. e. Interplanetary spaceflight or interplanetary travel is the crewed or uncrewed travel between stars and planets, usually within a single planetary system. [1] In practice, spaceflights of this type are confined to travel between the planets of the Solar System. Uncrewed space probes have flown to all the observed planets in the Solar ...
The interplanetary medium is responsible for several optical phenomena visible from Earth. Zodiacal light is a broad band of faint light sometimes seen after sunset and before sunrise, stretched along the ecliptic and appearing brightest near the horizon. This glow is caused by sunlight scattered by dust particles in the interplanetary medium ...
The interstellar medium (ISM) is the matter and radiation that exists in the space between the star systems in a galaxy. This matter includes gas in ionic, atomic, and molecular form, as well as dust and cosmic rays. It fills interstellar space and blends smoothly into the surrounding intergalactic space.
Space travel, [1]: 69 [2]: 209–210 [3]: 511–512 or space flight[2]: 200–201 [4] (less often, starfaring or star voyaging[2]: 217, 220 ) is a science fiction theme that has captivated the public and is almost archetypal for science fiction. [4] Space travel, interplanetary or interstellar, is usually performed in space ships, and ...
Deep-space exploration is the branch of astronomy, astronautics, and space technology that is involved with exploring the distant regions of outer space. [1] However, little consensus has been reached on the meaning of "distant" regions. In some contexts, it is used to refer to interstellar space. The International Telecommunication Union ...
The interplanetary magnetic field at the Earth's orbit varies with waves and other disturbances in the solar wind, known as " space weather." The field is a vector, with components in the radial and azimuthal directions as well as a component perpendicular to the ecliptic. The field varies in strength near the Earth from 1 to 37 nT, averaging ...
The outer surface of the heliosheath, where the heliosphere meets the interstellar medium, is called heliopause. This is the edge of the entire heliosphere. Observations in 2009 led to changes to this model. [13] [14] In theory, heliopause causes turbulence in the interstellar medium as the Sun orbits the Galactic Center.
Interstellar object. An interstellar object is an astronomical object (such as an asteroid, a comet, or a rogue planet, but not a star or stellar remnant) in interstellar space that is not gravitationally bound to a star. This term can also be applied to an object that is on an interstellar trajectory but is temporarily passing close to a star ...