The discovery, by Nasa\'s Interstella Boundary Explorer (IBEX) ship   A Nasa craft has detected neutral \'alien\' particles entering our solar system from interstellar space. The discovery, by the agency\'s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) ship, gives the most complete glimpse yet of what lies beyond our solar system.
Researchers are confident the new measurements will offer clues about how and where our solar system formed, the forces that physically shape it, and the history of other stars in the Milky Way.
Nasa\'s Ulysses spacecraft detected interstellar neutral helium more than a decade ago.
But now, Earth-orbiting IBEX has observed three other types of atom including hydrogen, oxygen and neon - the raw material for the formation of new stars, planets and even human beings.
These interstellar atoms are the by-products of older stars, which blow through in the so-called interstellar wind.
Researchers found 74 oxygen atoms for every 20 neon atoms in the interstellar wind. In our own solar system, there are 111 oxygen atoms for every 20 neon atoms.