What's the dealio with the heliosphere?

[GrandMasterK]

I've got a couple simple questions on the matter that aren't turning up in searches.

 

1. Is the heliosphere visible? If you are leaving the solar system do you see it coming? If I were far enough away from the sun would I see the heliosphere bubble around it?

 

2. If I was EVA traveling through the heliopause, would I feel any force or anything as I pass through it?

 

3. If I understand correctly, the particles in the solar wind basically "pause" at the heliopause and create an equal force barrier with the outside medium. So, do particles keep building up at this point? Would that not create a cloud?

 

4. Going off of question 3, would that cloud be the oort cloud? And is the oort cloud apart of the heliosphere and/or in it? Or are they seperate phenomena?

 

5. Is the kuiper belt a part of the oort cloud?

 

6. The heliopause is considered the boundry of the solar system but is it really the last neighborhood for celestial objects before the great emptiness between stars?

 

 

Thanks guys!

[Ophiolite]

I've got a couple simple questions on the matter that aren't turning up in searches.

 

1. Is the heliosphere visible? If you are leaving the solar system do you see it coming? If I were far enough away from the sun would I see the heliosphere bubble around it?

 

2. If I was EVA traveling through the heliopause, would I feel any force or anything as I pass through it?

 

3. If I understand correctly, the particles in the solar wind basically "pause" at the heliopause and create an equal force barrier with the outside medium. So, do particles keep building up at this point? Would that not create a cloud?

 

4. Going off of question 3, would that cloud be the oort cloud? And is the oort cloud apart of the heliosphere and/or in it? Or are they seperate phenomena?

 

5. Is the kuiper belt a part of the oort cloud?

 

6. The heliopause is considered the boundry of the solar system but is it really the last neighborhood for celestial objects before the great emptiness between stars?

 

 

Thanks guys!

1. It is not visible, though it is - obviously - detectable.

2. You would not feel a force while passing through the heliopause, though the forces acting upon you would change.

3. Particles do not continuously build up at this point. (This merits a fuller answer. Perhaps later.)

4. This has nothing to do with the Oort cloud. The Oort cloud is not a cloud, but a postulated collection of comets in long period orbits around the sun that are nor preferentially aligned with the ecliptic.

5.The Kuiper belt is not part of the Oort cloud. It contains various objects, some quite sizeable, left over from the formation of the solar system. Most of them tend to be aligned somewhat with the ecliptic.

6. It is simply considered one of the boundaries. There are many objects beyond it that are under the gravitational control of the sun.

[Strange]

Regarding 1 to 3, note that space is a vacuum (it is a long time since I did any vacuum work, but I guess this is a better vacuum than most labs routinely manage). So even if there is some slight increase in density at the heliopause, it is still a vacuum. So you wouldn't detect anything without specialist instruments, as Ophiolite says.

 

If you Google voyager leaves solar system you will find lots of detailed explanations about the nature of this "boundary", what was measured and how.

[GrandMasterK]

Thanks guys!

[Ophiolite]

You are most welcome.