A Nasa craft has detected neutral 'alien' particles entering our solar system from interstellar space, according to Daily Mail. 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.

While the big bang initially created hydrogen and helium, only the supernovae explosions at the end of a star’s life can spread the heavier elements of oxygen and neon through the galaxy.

With the new research scientists may now be able to map how our galaxy evolved and changed over time. 'In the beginning there was only hydrogen and helium,' Eberhard Moebius, a University of New Hampshire professor and IBEX team member at Los Alamos, said.

'These two elements formed the first stars. When those stars collapsed and died, they spewed their material, including new elements created through the process of nuclear fusion, out into space. We can tell a lot about the evolution of our universe and perhaps gain insight into other galaxies and planetary systems by analysing these particles,' he said.