Animated view showing the <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Neon" title="Neon">neon</a> to <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Oxygen" title="Oxygen">oxygen</a> ratio in the neutral gas of the local cloud, as obtained with IBEX, in comparison with the ratio for the <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Sun" title="Sun">Sun</a> and the <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Milky_Way_Galaxy" title="Category:Milky Way Galaxy">Milky Way galaxy</a>. There is much less oxygen in the gas of the local cloud, which presents an interesting puzzle to astronomers. Is a substantial portion of the essential ingredient for life (oxygen) locked up in interstellar dust, or does this tell us how different the conditions our immediate neighborhood are than at the birthplace of the Sun?
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
2012-01-27
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