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V'ger Exits The Solar System

obeygiant

obeygiant

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Jan 14, 2002
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Thirty-five years after its launch, Voyager 1 appears to have travelled beyond the influence of the Sun and exited the heliosphere, according to a new study appearing online today.

The heliosphere is a region of space dominated by the Sun and its wind of energetic particles, and which is thought to be enclosed, bubble-like, in the surrounding interstellar medium of gas and dust that pervades the Milky Way galaxy.

On August 25, 2012, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft measured drastic changes in radiation levels, more than 11 billion miles from the Sun. Anomalous cosmic rays, which are cosmic rays trapped in the outer heliosphere, all but vanished, dropping to less than 1 percent of previous amounts. At the same time, galactic cosmic rays – cosmic radiation from outside of the solar system – spiked to levels not seen since Voyager’s launch, with intensities as much as twice previous levels.

The findings have been accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

“Within just a few days, the heliospheric intensity of trapped radiation decreased, and the cosmic ray intensity went up as you would expect if it exited the heliosphere,” said Bill Webber, professor emeritus of astronomy at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. He calls this transition boundary the “heliocliff.”

In the GRL article, the authors state: “It appears that [Voyager 1] has exited the main solar modulation region, revealing [hydrogen] and [helium] spectra characteristic of those to be expected in the local interstellar medium.”

However, Webber notes, scientists are continuing to debate whether Voyager 1 has reached interstellar space or entered a separate, undefined region beyond the solar system.

“It’s outside the normal heliosphere, I would say that,” Webber said. “We’re in a new region. And everything we’re measuring is different and exciting.”

The work was funded by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.



Read more: http://science.time.com/2013/03/20/...ffically-exits-the-heliosphere/#ixzz2O6GTFdb6
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filmbuff

filmbuff

macrumors 6502a
Jan 5, 2011
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I'm not sure why this is news now since all of that information was announced when it happened 7 months ago. There isn't a fine line between the solar system and interstellar space and Voyager has been "leaving" through the heliopause for years. They found some interesting stuff out there.

I think the coolest thing about it is that in 2011, after a full 21 years of dormant cruising, Voyager 1 was still able to power its engines and turn on command.
 
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ucfgrad93

ucfgrad93

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Aug 17, 2007
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I find it amazing that we can still communicate with a device that was launched over 30 years ago and is now 11+ billion miles from earth.
 
SandboxGeneral

SandboxGeneral

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ucfgrad93 said:
I find it amazing that we can still communicate with a device that was launched over 30 years ago and is now 11+ billion miles from earth.
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I agree and also considering the technology on the spacecraft being over 30 years old too and still working.

I read about this in August when it made the news and it still fascinates me about the whole [star] trek. ;) The furthest man-made object from Earth.
 
obeygiant

obeygiant

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filmbuff said:
I'm not sure why this is news now since all of that information was announced when it happened 7 months ago. There isn't a fine line between the solar system and interstellar space and Voyager has been "leaving" through the heliopause for years. They found some interesting stuff out there.
Click to expand...

I was thinking that too although the article was published today. The American Geophysical Union officially declared it based on a change in the cosmic rays.
 
Scepticalscribe

Scepticalscribe

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Jul 29, 2008
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filmbuff said:
.......
I think the coolest thing about it is that in 2011, after a full 21 years of dormant cruising, Voyager 1 was still able to power its engines and turn on command.
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Thanks for posting this, OP.

Agreed, it is awesome. Actually, I remember when Voyager (both Voyagers) blasted off, and remember the TV coverage at the time, and later, too, during the planetary flypasts, (and also recall the coverage of the Jupiter fly past by the late Carl Sagan in his wonderful series 'Cosmos' which had me absolutely rivetted when it was first broadcast in the early 1980s).......

eric/ said:
Awesome stuff. Poor Voyager is probably so lonely. :(
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Yes, but isn't it amazing that it is still capable of communicating what is happening to it and what it experiences through its wonderfully sturdy instruments?

ucfgrad93 said:
I find it amazing that we can still communicate with a device that was launched over 30 years ago and is now 11+ billion miles from earth.
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So do I. Fantastic.

SandboxGeneral said:
I agree and also considering the technology on the spacecraft being over 30 years old too and still working.

I read about this in August when it made the news and it still fascinates me about the whole [star] trek. ;) The furthest man-made object from Earth.
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Awesome (that wonderful American words fits best, here) and spine-tingling. Stories like this still thrill me.

obeygiant said:
I was thinking that too although the article was published today. The American Geophysical Union officially declared it based on a change in the cosmic rays.
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Again, thanks for posting and sharing. I don't care that this was first flagged seven months ago - it is a great story and a deeply thought-provoking tale. It puts many things into perspective, somehow.
 
Mac'nCheese

Mac'nCheese

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Feb 9, 2010
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SandboxGeneral said:
I agree and also considering the technology on the spacecraft being over 30 years old too and still working.

I read about this in August when it made the news and it still fascinates me about the whole [star] trek. ;) The furthest man-made object from Earth.
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30 years old and still working! And we are talking about it on a forum where people go to make sure the phone they want to buy isn't going to be upgraded in five months. Cause then the old one will be junk!
 
SandboxGeneral

SandboxGeneral

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Mac'nCheese said:
30 years old and still working! And we are talking about it on a forum where people go to make sure the phone they want to buy isn't going to be upgraded in five months. Cause then the old one will be junk!
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Well put!

Most younger people probably have no concept of the work put into these space probes back then and the forethought the scientists and engineers had to have in order to make the craft "future proof" since they obviously realized that there was no upgrade path for them.
 
S

snberk103

macrumors 603
Oct 22, 2007
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ucfgrad93 said:
I find it amazing that we can still communicate with a device that was launched over 30 years ago and is now 11+ billion miles from earth.
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I wonder if NASA needs to maintain a suite of older communications equipment for compatibility? Or have they migrated all the communications to their current equipment...

Just idle curiosity. I too remember when they were launched, and the possibilities that were discussed. wow.
 
joepunk

joepunk

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Aug 5, 2004
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snberk103 said:
I wonder if NASA needs to maintain a suite of older communications equipment for compatibility? Or have they migrated all the communications to their current equipment...

Just idle curiosity. I too remember when they were launched, and the possibilities that were discussed. wow.
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It would be interesting to know what equipment they are now using. It would also be awesome of we (non-nasa people) could pickup V'gers signals on "homemade" equipment :) Just like the amateur radio operators could pickup the signal from Sputnik.
 
SandboxGeneral

SandboxGeneral

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joepunk said:
It would be interesting to know what equipment they are now using. It would also be awesome of we (non-nasa people) could pickup V'gers signals on "homemade" equipment :) Just like the amateur radio operators could pickup the signal from Sputnik.
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If you have a satellite receiver at least 10 feet wide, know which direction to point it in and have equipment that can listen to the 8GHz band, you can potentially pick it up. Some guy in Portugal did it back in 2006.
 
J

jf1450

macrumors regular
Aug 25, 2012
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Some alien out there is really gonna be pi$$ed when our junk floats by his/her living room window. "There goes the neighborhood." :)
 
C

carlgo

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Dec 29, 2006
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Monterey CA
Voyager has the record featuring music and also directions to earth? It would be interesting to launch a version of Jeff Bezo's 10,000 year clock, although far away in some strange gravity aliens may not be able to directly relate to time as we know it. It would still be cool, transmitting chimes as it flies on forever.
 
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