Voyager nears solar systems edge...

NoQuarter

From BBC news...

Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, has reached a new milestone in its quest to leave the Solar System.

Now 17.4bn km (10.8bn miles) from home, the veteran probe has detected a distinct change in the flow of particles that surround it.
These particles, which emanate from the Sun, are no longer travelling outwards but are moving sideways.
It means Voyager must be very close to making the jump to interstellar space - the space between the stars.
Edward Stone, the Voyager project scientist, lauded the explorer and the fascinating science it continues to return 33 years after launch.

"When Voyager was launched, the space age itself was only 20 years old, so there was no basis to know that spacecraft could last so long," he told BBC News.

"We had no idea how far we would have to travel to get outside the Solar System. We now know that in roughly five years, we should be outside for the first time."

Dr Stone was speaking here at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, the largest gathering of Earth scientists in the world.

Particle bubble

Voyager 1 was launched on 5 September 1977, and its sister spacecraft, Voyager 2, on 20 August 1977.

The Nasa probes' initial goal was to survey the outer planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, a task completed in 1989.
They were then despatched towards deep space, in the general direction of the centre of our Milky Way Galaxy.

Sustained by their radioactive power packs, the probes' instruments continue to function well and return data to Earth, although the vast distance between them and Earth means a radio message now has a travel time of about 16 hours.

The newly reported observation comes from Voyager 1's Low-Energy Charged Particle Instrument, which has been monitoring the velocity of the solar wind.

This stream of charged particles forms a bubble around our Solar System known as the heliosphere. The wind travels at "supersonic" speed until it crosses a shockwave called the termination shock.

At this point, the wind then slows dramatically and heats up in a region termed the heliosheath. Voyager has determined the velocity of the wind at its location has now slowed to zero.

Racing onwards

"We have gotten to the point where the wind from the Sun, which until now has always had an outward motion, is no longer moving outward; it is only moving sideways so that it can end up going down the tail of the heliosphere, which is a comet-shaped-like object," said Dr Stone, who is based at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California.

This phenomenon is a consequence of the wind pushing up against the matter coming from other stars. The boundary between the two is the "official" edge of the Solar System - the heliopause. Once Voyager crosses over, it will be in interstellar space.

First hints that Voyager had encountered something new came in June. Several months of further data were required to confirm the observation.
"When I realized that we were getting solid zeroes, I was amazed," said Rob Decker, a Voyager Low-Energy Charged Particle Instrument co-investigator from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.

"Here was Voyager, a spacecraft that has been a workhorse for 33 years, showing us something completely new again."
Voyager 1 is racing on towards the heliopause at 17km/s. Dr Stone expects the cross-over to occur within the next few years.
Although launched first, Voyager 2 was put on a slower path and is currently just over 14bn km from Earth.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11988466


Pretty exciting stuff!

Bohrio

Its pretty amazing, thanks for this

lord lucan

It's almost unbelievable that Voyager is still going strong after all these years. Amazing craft!

Plug

How long is left in them for battery juice?

ednwireland

Plug wrote: »

How long is left in them for battery juice?

from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_program

Power

Radioisotope thermoelectric generators for the Voyager program.Electrical power is supplied by three radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs). They are powered by plutonium-238 (distinct from the Pu-239 isotope used in nuclear weapons) and provided approximately 470 W at 30 volts DC when the spacecraft was launched. Plutonium-238 decays with a half-life of 87.74 years,[5] so RTGs using Pu-238 will lose a factor of 1 - 0.5{1/87.74} = 0.78% of their power output per year.

In 2006, 29 years after launch, such an RTG would produce only 470 W × 2-(29/87.74) ~= 373 W — or about 79.5% — of its initial power. Moreover, the bi-metallic thermocouples that convert heat into electricity also degrade, so the actual power will be even lower.

As of September 25, 2009 the power generated by Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 had dropped to 276.4 W and 277.6 W respectively. This is about 58% of the power at launch. This level of power output so far has been better than the pre-launch predictions based on a conservative thermocouple degradation model. As the electrical power decreases, spacecraft loads must be turned off, eliminating some spacecraft capabilities

BULLER

Plug wrote: »

How long is left in them for battery juice?

yeah... battery....
Nucular. Its pronounced, nucular.

Absolutely crazy that its still returning data!

eh2010

Plug wrote: »

How long is left in them for battery juice?

Its projected to keep powering its instruments until 2025 or slightly afterwards at which point it will run out of power , but will keep drifting in space. Its very exciting . I wonder what its like for the people who built it to know that something that was built by their hand is now leaving the solar systen.

chebonaparte

yeah its amazing project Voyager.


wheres dreaming smiley?

http://www.universetoday.com/81662/voyager-1-has-outdistanced-the-solar-wind/comment-page-1/#comment-88124

http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/didyouknow.html

:cool:

derra

First time posting on the astronomy & space forum but always have a look at the threads.
Always had a fascination @ above and beyond but i never really educated myself apart from some documentaries and so on and still at that i would'nt be able to hold a good converstaion regarding what's out there.
Just have an amazement looking at pictures and the fascination of looking into the sky knowing what is up there and thinking what we don't know is up there.

Used to get up years ago before school to see lunar eclipses and be in awe at the sight or used to love news reports on Voyager like when when sounds were first transmitted passing by Jupiter/Neptune !

Unfortunately i have never even looked through a telescope, just a set of binoculars i had but will have to attend one of the free public viewing nights that do be held.
So just a few numbers from last few posts and links relating to Voyager that kind of grabs by attention apart from all the amazing information they have provided..

Now 17.4bn km (10.8bn miles) from home :eek:
65,000 individual parts with each spacecraft containing some five million equivalent parts
This boundary is roughly about halfway to the nearest star, Proxima Centauri. Traveling at speeds of over 35,000 miles per hour, it will take the Voyagers nearly 40,000 years :eek:
Barring any serious spacecraft subsystem failures, the Voyagers may survive until the early twenty-first century (~ 2025)

If Voyager had endless power to continue and was indestructible no matter what it encountered,could it just go and go and go and where the heck to , That's the kind of thought that endears me to thinking about above and beyond however childish it may seem.


If anyone like myself lacks a bit of knowledge, this is a good documentary to watch in simple terms, probably bit outdated mind ya but still good viewing.
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/journey-edge-universe/

Anyway, look forward to reading future threads on the forum.

hinault

I remember when Voyager was launched!

As a kid, I found the idea of a satellite going in to deep space fascinating.

Thanks for posting the update about this voyage.
10.8 billions miles!

Beeker

hinault wrote: »

I remember when Voyager was launched!

As a kid, I found the idea of a satellite going in to deep space fascinating.

Thanks for posting the update about this voyage.
10.8 billions miles!

Same here. My interest in space started as a Kid with the Viking landings on Mars, that was amazing to follow. The Voyager flights then captured my imagination and have led to a lifetimes interest in the subject:)

Cú Giobach

This probably sounds silly but I have a twinge of feeling sorry for the Voyagers,
I have a feeling of 2 friends beeping* faintly out in the cold and dark loneliness of deep space.
(The pioneers are more acquaintances than friends)

*I know they're not actually beeping.

NoQuarter

Cú Giobach wrote: »

This probably sounds silly but I have a twinge of feeling sorry for the Voyagers,
I have a feeling of 2 friends beeping* faintly out in the cold and dark loneliness of deep space.
(The pioneers are more acquaintances than friends)

But are they beeping if noone is around to hear it?? Its the age old question!

Cú Giobach

NoQuarter wrote: »

But are they beeping if noone is around to hear it?? Its the age old question!

An age old question indeed.

Don't forget though "In space no one can hear you scream beep".

(.....strolls over to philosophy to bump an old thread)

Stargate

Thank You Voyager 1 - just Incredible when you think of it !!

Stargate

Stargate

Beeker wrote: »

Same here. My interest in space started as a Kid with the Viking landings on Mars, that was amazing to follow. The Voyager flights then captured my imagination and have led to a lifetimes interest in the subject:)

Hiya Beeker ;-)

Hows the snow situation your way ?

Stargate

eh2010

Cú Giobach wrote: »

This probably sounds silly but I have a twinge of feeling sorry for the Voyagers,
I have a feeling of 2 friends beeping* faintly out in the cold and dark loneliness of deep space.
(The pioneers are more acquaintances than friends)

*I know they're not actually beeping.

Absolutely. And those four probes in the outer reaches of the solar system will be joined by the new horizons probe after its finished with pluto. I think the voyagers journey should go down in history along with other groundbreaking historical journeys such as those undertaken by Columbus , Magellan and Marco Polo.

Beeker

Stargate wrote: »

Hiya Beeker ;-)

Hows the snow situation your way ?

Stargate

All gone at last:) More due today I hear. In work now -3 outside. Time for a big mug of tea:D

Beeker

eh2010 wrote: »

Absolutely. And those four probes in the outer reaches of the solar system will be joined by the new horizons probe after its finished with pluto. I think the voyagers journey should go down in history along with other groundbreaking historical journeys such as those undertaken by Columbus , Magellan and Marco Polo.

Don't forget that they will continue on for ever {or at least for billions of years into the future if they do not run into something} If our species become extinct at some stage they may well be the only artifacts left to show that we ever existed at all. They will remain emissaries of our species long after we are gone.

rccaulfield

Beeker wrote: »

Don't forget that they will continue on for ever {or at least for billions of years into the future if they do not run into something} If our species become extinct at some stage they may well be the only artifacts left to show that we ever existed at all. They will remain emissaries of our species long after we are gone.

Very true, haven't we left recordings of all our languages and a 3d map of helium(is it) on board in case anyone else ever finds it?

JupiterKid

It's very exciting to see Voyager 1 finally cross the termination shock.:) This was modelled and predicted for years but of course no probe has ever been here before.

I wonder if scientists plan to keep in touch with New Horizons until it crosses the termination shock? There's very little mention anywhere of NH being the 5th interstellar-bound space probe.

Mahatma coat

are the Cameras still working on the Voyager Craft?????

I would love to see what it can see, Granted I accept that it would probably just be a patch of Black space, but Black space relayed back to my computer screen from 10 million miles away is still fairly cool

Super Freak

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_Blue_Dot

Camera was working in 1990 when this photo was taken from Voyager 1

Beeker

rccaulfield wrote: »

Very true, haven't we left recordings of all our languages and a 3d map of helium(is it) on board in case anyone else ever finds it?

There sure is. The late Carl Sagan was involved in having the disc put aboard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record

Beeker

Super Freak wrote: »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_Blue_Dot

Camera was working in 1990 when this photo was taken from Voyager 1

Ah! an appropriate point to post this fantastic Carl Sagan gem!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p86BPM1GV8M

eh2010

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43414077/ns/technology_and_science-space/

Voyager might leave the solar system sooner than we think!

eh2010

Realtime update of voyager's positions

http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/where/index.html

G-Money

I'm a bit confused by the term interstellar. The article says it's going into interstellar space now, which is the space between stars. I'm a real newbie to all this but isn't it always between stars anyway assuming it doesn't crash into one?

namloc1980

G-Money wrote: »

I'm a bit confused by the term interstellar. The article says it's going into interstellar space now, which is the space between stars. I'm a real newbie to all this but isn't it always between stars anyway assuming it doesn't crash into one?

In this instance what they mean by interstellar space is basically where the solar wind from our Sun ceases and the space between the stars begins. Imagine the Sun is constantly blowing out a vast bubble into space:



Eventually that bubble can no longer keep expanding because of pressure from interstellar space.

Kersh

Iirc Voyager 1 passes close to a star in about 40,000 years :eek:

Voyager 2 will encounter Barnards star in about 8500 years.

G-Money

I need to find some newbie's guide to space. I've started to develop a bit of an interest in it recently but I don't know the first thing about it. Although I need to find something that doesn't explain jargon with more jargon!