Alien Stuff Found Outside Space

Top Stories Alien 'space stuff' found outside solar system Feb 01, 2012 12:03pm NASA has detected alien "space stuff" outside our solar system. "Interstellar material" - or "alien matter" was detected for the very first time at the very edge of world's solar system by the Earth orbiting Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft. The matter is the building blocks of stars, planets and people but IBEX principal investigator David McComas told Fox News it had distinctly different properties to the kind found in our solar system. "We discovered this puzzle: matter outside our solar system doesn't look like material inside our solar system. It seems to be deficient in oxygen compared to neon," Mr McComas said. "It's really important to be measuring it." The oxygen deficiencies (compared to our galaxy) could indicate that the sun was born in a different galactic neighbourhood than the one it currently inhabits. Alternatively it could be a sign that the oxygen is "locked" within other galactic materials like dust and ice. The IBEX's mission is to map the boundary between the solar system and interstellar space by counting and measuring particles. In 2009 it witnessed the first-ever look at a solar wind crashing into Earth's magnetosphere when it detected a mysterious "ribbon" of charged particles travelling at a million miles per hour from the sun. It also discovered a protective "bubble" known as a helioshphere that shields the earth from powerful cosmic rays in 2009.