---
title: "Our Solar System Is Blanketed in a Giant Wall of Fire"
description: "New research suggests that a fiery layer of super-hot plasma marks the transition between our solar system and interstellar space."
date: "2019-11-21"
modified: "2019-11-21"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/solar-system-blanketed-giant-wall-fire"
categories:
  - "Energy"
  - "Renewable Energy"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Solar Power"
tags:
  - "interstellar space"
  - "solar system"
  - "the digest"
  - "voyager 2"
---

# Our Solar System Is Blanketed in a Giant Wall of Fire

![New research suggests that a fiery layer of super-hot plasma marks the transition between our solar system and interstellar space.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/solar-system-blanketed-giant-wall-fire.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Literal Firewall

At the outermost edges of our solar system lies a barrier of super-hot plasma — a giant wall of fire from the Sun that defines the edge of interstellar space.

As Voyager 2 began its journey into interstellar space in late 2018, it recorded temperatures as high as 49,427 degrees Celsius (89,000 degrees Fahrenheit), [according to *Nerdist*](<https://nerdist.com/article/89000f-wall-of-plasma-solar-system/>). And while the space probe seems to be fine, the plasma shield could pose a problem to NASA as it moves towards its [planned interstellar mission](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-considering-interstellar-mission>).

## Defining Boundaries

Scientists are just now measuring the plasma layer, which was created and is maintained by solar winds that blow outward from the Sun to form a giant bubble, [according to research](<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-019-0929-2>) published this month in *Nature Astronomy*.

According to a [release](<https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7530>) from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the new research suggests that Voyager 2 may not actually be in interstellar space yet, but rather stuck in a wide transitional region made of incredibly hot, compact plasma just beyond the outer reaches of the solar system.

**READ MORE:** [89,000°F Wall of Plasma Surrounds Our Solar System](<https://nerdist.com/article/89000f-wall-of-plasma-solar-system/>) \[*Nerdist*\]

**More on interstellar space:** *[Interstellar Object's Home Solar System May Resemble Our Own](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/interstellar-object-home-solar-system>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)