The Ulysses legacy, in pictures

The joint ESA/NASA solar mission Ulysses has forever changed the way scientists view the Sun and its effect on the surrounding space. The mission’s major results and the legacy it leaves behind have been presented today at ESA Headquarters in Paris, in view of the impending conclusion of the mission on 1 July 2008.

To thumbnails

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |

HI-RES JPEG HI-RES TIFF

Caption: Boundaries of the heliosphere Credits: ESA (image by C.Carreau) ID number: SEMJHUUG3HF HI-RES JPEG size: 762 kb HI-RES TIFF size: 1677 kb Related Images: Sun Astronomy targets Ulysses

Description

The sphere of influence of the Sun, or heliosphere, is carved out by the solar wind – a stream of charged particles emitted by the Sun continuously.

The heliosphere expands well beyond the outer fringes of the Solar System where it meets material (dust, gas and cosmic rays) of interstellar origin and interacts with it. The ESA/NASA Ulysses mission was the first to perform direct measurements of interstellar dust and gas, and studied galactic cosmic rays in unprecedented detail.

To thumbnails

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |