The authors of three new studies published last Thursday in Science concluded that the Voyager 1 spacecraft, which is now 18 billion kilometers from the Sun, will become within a few months to a few years the first man-made object to leave the Solar System and reach interstellar space.
The authors of three new studies published last Thursday in Science concluded that the Voyager 1 spacecraft, now 18 billion kilometers from the Sun, is close to becoming the first man-made object to leave the Solar System and reach interstellar space.
Data published in July 2013 in the journal Science estimate that Voyager 1 is close to exiting the heliosphere.
"This strange region is the last region before interstellar space and it is beginning to come into focus and be explored. Thanks to Voyager 1, the most distant observer of the human race." says Ed Stone, Voyager 1 project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Voyager 1 is at the edge of the heliosphere - a huge bubble created by the Sun's magnetic field. When the spacecraft pierces its way through the bubble, it will actually leave the solar system and enter interstellar space - the area where the stars are located.
The articles describe how the spacecraft's entry into the area known as "the magnetic highway" reveals that two of the three signs of a breakthrough were present. The ionized particles disappeared when the spacecraft left the Sun's magnetic field, and cosmic radiation from outer space replaced them. The scientists have not yet seen the third sign, which is a sudden change in the direction of the magnetic field, which would indicate the spacecraft's entry into the interstellar magnetic field.
"If you look at the cosmic radiation field and the energetic particle data separately, you might think that Voyager has reached interstellar space," says Stone, "however, the team feels that Voyager 1 has not yet reached there because it is still under the control of the Sun's magnetic field. " (This is actually a repetition of the last sentence in the last paragraph).
Voyager 1 and its twin sister Voyager 2 were launched in 1977. They flew by Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune before leaving for the interstellar mission in 1990. (maybe add: "soon") they are due to leave the heliosphere. Measuring the size of the heliosphere is part of the Voyager mission.
Voyager 2 is 15 billion kilometers from the Sun and still moving within the heliosphere. Voyager 1 covered a greater distance - 18 billion kilometers from the Sun in August last year when it reached the magnetic highway, and by this it appears that the spacecraft has moved into interstellar space. This region allows the charged particles to move to and from the heliosphere along a straight line of the magnetic field instead of moving in all directions. Thus it seems that Voyager 1 is sampling interstellar space before actually entering it.
Scientists don't know exactly how far Voyager 1 has to travel before it finally enters interstellar space. They estimate that this could take months or even years. The arrival in interstellar space can happen at any moment. It's worth following.
To the center page the news about Voyager spacecraft On the NASA website וon the JPL website.
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How do you know that the spacecraft is still intact and did not disintegrate during the journey?
someone
you are right The Oort cloud is part of the solar system and it extends up to a light-year distance from the sun, so it will take thousands of years for Voyager to leave it. If you arbitrarily decide that the Oort cloud is not part of the solar system, then the exit from the solar system will be faster.
http://xkcd.com/1189/
I see an article like this every few months, and if I'm not mistaken it simply depends on your definition of the end of the solar system.
It makes me deja vu
I already saw articles like this a few years ago, and if I'm not mistaken a few years before that as well