Published in the Astrophysical Journal, a study has allowed a team of astronomers to unlock a mystery related to a ring of particles that has perplexed them for almost three years.

The team has told that they have the answer why a "ribbon" of energy boundary is bounced off from inside the solar system by particles along with neutral atoms from the collision stream inside.

It was three years back when the ribbon of energy was first discovered as a result of the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission of NASA. It has been informed that the strange energy band makes some type of energy field, which pushes particles inward.

But, the source of the barrier was never identified successfully by astronomers and scientists. They even have remained unable to explicate the reason behind the appearance of particles. They often look as if driven back to the sun.

It is now because of "retention theory" that the key observation of the ribbon's width can be explained. It says that the band of energy lies in a location which is the meeting point of the solar wind's neutral hydrogen atoms and a local galactic magnetic field. Neutral atoms then become charged ions and begin rotating rapidly around magnetic field lines.

"The ribbon can be used to tell us how we're moving through the magnetic fields of the interstellar medium and how those magnetic fields then influence our space environment", affirmed Schwadron.