• Voyager1 Encounters New Region in Deep Space
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[quote] [quote] [IMG]http://images.sciencedaily.com/2012/12/121203154500.jpg[/IMG] ============================================================ Voyager 1 Explores the 'Magnetic Highway': This still image shows NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft exploring a new region in our solar system called the "magnetic highway." In this region, the sun's magnetic field lines are connected to interstellar magnetic field lines, allowing particles from inside the heliosphere to zip away and particles from interstellar space to zoom in. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) [/quote] NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has entered a new region at the far reaches of our solar system that scientists feel is the final area the spacecraft has to cross before reaching interstellar space. Scientists refer to this new region as a magnetic highway for charged particles because our sun's magnetic field lines are connected to interstellar magnetic field lines. This connection allows lower-energy charged particles that originate from inside our heliosphere -- or the bubble of charged particles the sun blows around itself -- to zoom out and allows higher-energy particles from outside to stream in. Before entering this region, the charged particles bounced around in all directions, as if trapped on local roads inside the heliosphere. The Voyager team infers this region is still inside our solar bubble because the direction of the magnetic field lines has not changed. The direction of these magnetic field lines is predicted to change when Voyager breaks through to interstellar space. The new results were described at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco on Monday. "Although Voyager 1 still is inside the sun's environment, we now can taste what it's like on the outside because the particles are zipping in and out on this magnetic highway," said Edward Stone, Voyager project scientist based at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. "We believe this is the last leg of our journey to interstellar space. Our best guess is it's likely just a few months to a couple years away. The new region isn't what we expected, but we've come to expect the unexpected from Voyager." Since December 2004, when Voyager 1 crossed a point in space called the termination shock, the spacecraft has been exploring the heliosphere's outer layer, called the heliosheath. In this region, the stream of charged particles from the sun, known as the solar wind, abruptly slowed down from supersonic speeds and became turbulent. Voyager 1's environment was consistent for about five and a half years. The spacecraft then detected that the outward speed of the solar wind slowed to zero. The intensity of the magnetic field also began to increase at that time. Voyager data from two onboard instruments that measure charged particles showed the spacecraft first entered this magnetic highway region on July 28, 2012. The region ebbed away and flowed toward Voyager 1 several times. The spacecraft entered the region again Aug. 25 and the environment has been stable since. "If we were judging by the charged particle data alone, I would have thought we were outside the heliosphere," said Stamatios Krimigis, principal investigator of the low-energy charged particle instrument, based at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md. "But we need to look at what all the instruments are telling us and only time will tell whether our interpretations about this frontier are correct." Spacecraft data revealed the magnetic field became stronger each time Voyager entered the highway region; however, the direction of the magnetic field lines did not change. "We are in a magnetic region unlike any we've been in before -- about 10 times more intense than before the termination shock -- but the magnetic field data show no indication we're in interstellar space," said Leonard Burlaga, a Voyager magnetometer team member based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "The magnetic field data turned out to be the key to pinpointing when we crossed the termination shock. And we expect these data will tell us when we first reach interstellar space." Voyager 1 and 2 were launched 16 days apart in 1977. At least one of the spacecraft has visited Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Voyager 1 is the most distant human-made object, about 11 billion miles (18 billion kilometers) away from the sun. The signal from Voyager 1 takes approximately 17 hours to travel to Earth. Voyager 2, the longest continuously operated spacecraft, is about 9 billion miles (15 billion kilometers) away from our sun. While Voyager 2 has seen changes similar to those seen by Voyager 1, the changes are much more gradual. Scientists do not think Voyager 2 has reached the magnetic highway. The Voyager spacecraft were built and continue to be operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, Calif. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. The Voyager missions are a part of NASA's Heliophysics System Observatory, sponsored by the Heliophysics Division of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. ============================================================ Source: [URL]http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121203154500.htm[/URL] [/quote] 18,467,835,270 KM away.. [url]http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/where/index.html[/url]
That's pretty interesting, keep on chuggin' voyager!
It still amazes me that these craft still work properly after 35 years.
when we get FTL travel we'll pop on out, pick em' up, and take em' home for a properly epic homecoming party
It's only a matter of time before It reaches the skybox.
how is it still going?
I wonder how many new Pokemon there are in this region
[QUOTE=TheChantzGuy;38696259]how is it still going?[/QUOTE] They use relatively little power and are powered by nuclear batteries.
I think one of the more amazing parts of this is that since space is so vast this actually happened quite a while ago; we've just barely received the signals, no?
[QUOTE=TheLolrus;38696205]It still amazes me that these craft still work properly after 35 years.[/QUOTE] Space is in many ways quite a lot more friendly on the physical aspect of electronics than any environment here on Earth. Once hardened against space radiation, there's really not much short of space debris that has any degrading effect on the components. And given that spacecraft use extremely tough hardware, it's likely to go on working for a very long time still. Can't wait to see what else Voyager finds out there!
How long is the nuclear battery supposed to last?
[QUOTE=Repulsion;38696276]I think one of the more amazing parts of this is that since space is so vast this actually happened quite a while ago; we've just barely received the signals, no?[/QUOTE] [quote=OP]The signal from Voyager 1 takes approximately 17 hours to travel to Earth.[/quote] If by "quite a while ago", you mean earlier today, then yes.
[QUOTE=laserguided;38696447]How long is the nuclear battery supposed to last?[/QUOTE] It's expected to last until 2025.
[QUOTE=Dvd;38696457]If by "quite a while ago", you mean earlier today, then yes.[/QUOTE] G-god damnit. Teaches me to read closely.
The Magnetic Highway. Damn that sounds cool.
I saw encounters and instantly though aliens or something, then again I just hopped off mass effect so that explains it a bit :v: It's amazing how long this thing is going to last though, honestly
[QUOTE=OrionChronicles;38696233]when we get FTL travel we'll pop on out, pick em' up, and take em' home for a properly epic homecoming party[/QUOTE] IIRC there's a plaque on the Voyager craft requesting that any future human space explorers don't do that (Although I might be thinking of a different spacecraft).
[QUOTE=Zackin5;38696606]IIRC there's a plaque on the Voyager craft requesting that any future human space explorers don't do that (Although I might be thinking of a different spacecraft).[/QUOTE] Voyager got the Golden Records which are phonograph recordings of a bunch of different data, ie some music, spoken messages, images, etc. as well as human anatomy, Earth's location, whatnot.
[QUOTE=Disseminate;38696830]Voyager got the Golden Records which are phonograph recordings of a bunch of different data, ie some music, spoken messages, images, etc. as well as human anatomy, Earth's location, whatnot.[/QUOTE] And it's this pretty thing right here. [t]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Voyager_Golden_Record_fx.png/598px-Voyager_Golden_Record_fx.png[/t] I'm somewhat surprised they included Earth's location on the disc. Here's hoping whatever intelligent life out there is not looking to subjugate.
The "magnetic highway" described in the article sounds much like an interstellar ozone layer. That's cool. Maybe aliens are watching this and other magnetic highways, waiting for something artificially made to come out before they deem the race as an interstellar species and make first contact (sort of like the Federation in Star Trek I guess). Probably not, but one can always hope.
Incredible when you think that electronics in space are actually of a much lower computational power than what we have on earth currently. You can't send an i7 to space and expect it to work, for example. So think about the computers they had back in 1977, then subtract a decade of computational power advancements and you're roughly at what the hardware on board the Voyagers is like
[QUOTE=JeanLuc761;38696490]It's expected to last until 2025.[/QUOTE] Maybe is sends a good bye message before depletion. :(
[QUOTE=Craptasket;38696956]Maybe is sends a good bye message before depletion. :([/QUOTE] I hope NASA put a return address on it so any aliens that find it can send it back.
[QUOTE=Craptasket;38696956]Maybe is sends a good bye message before depletion. :([/QUOTE] It might sound bittersweet, but Voyager 1 shutting down isn't all that bad. Unless it hits something or gets slowed to a stop by a gravity well, it's going to keep going for tens of thousands of years. It might be an inert piece of metal at that point, but it will still be evidence of our existence for a long, long time to come.
Fantastic findings, I'm surprised that its been able to last through the charge particle fields (Btw, those [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator"]nuclear batteries[/URL]) I hope that Golden Record is used within my lifetime, and perhaps that a V'Ger will come back to us. [IMG]http://www.startrek.com/legacy_media/images/200311/bhd-walktovger-vger-revealed/320x240.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE=LoneWolf_Recon;38697018]Fantastic findings, I'm surprised that its been able to last through the charge particle fields (Btw, those [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator"]nuclear batteries[/URL]) I hope that Golden Record is used within my lifetime, and perhaps that a V'Ger will come back to us. [IMG]http://www.startrek.com/legacy_media/images/200311/bhd-walktovger-vger-revealed/320x240.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE] You know who else used the Golden Disk? [IMG]http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080310170331/transformers/images/0/00/Megatron_GoldenDisk.jpg[/IMG]
Mmm, delicious science. Keep on going, brave probe. Perhaps someday we will have the technology necessary to bring you back home...or maybe service you, upgrade you and send you even farther out.
[QUOTE=ycap5;38696244]It's only a matter of time before It reaches the skybox.[/QUOTE] Sooner or later we'll all see a gigantic voyager1 soaring in our skies.
[QUOTE=Craptasket;38696956]Maybe is sends a good bye message before depletion. :([/QUOTE] Eh, I have faith that, someday, we will have the technology necessary to either go fetch it, or give it a couple new RTGs, some new instruments and a thorough once-over.
[QUOTE=JeanLuc761;38696994]It might sound bittersweet, but Voyager 1 shutting down isn't all that bad. Unless it hits something or gets slowed to a stop by a gravity well, it's going to keep going for tens of thousands of years. It might be an inert piece of metal at that point, but it will still be evidence of our existence for a long, long time to come.[/QUOTE] Is it even possible for it to come to a stop? Being interstellar space and assuming it hits nothing.
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