Voyager 1 Passes 100 AU from the Sun

An anonymous reader writes "Yesterday, Voyager 1 passed 100 astronomical units from the sun as it continues operating after nearly 30 years in space. That is about 15 billion kilometers or 9.3 billion miles as it travels about 1 million miles per day. Scientists still hope it will find the edge of the solar system and get into interstellar space."

Comments

Where do scientists think the edge is...

[Mc_Anthony]

How many more AUs to scientists think Voyager still has to travel before it reaches the edge, or do we not have a good estimation of that distance?

If I'm a space science noob does that make me a "Universal Noob"?

Well, yes.

[ackthpt]

Scientists still hope it will find the edge of the solar system and get into interstellar space."

The alternative is for the Sun to pull it back.

To sail on a dream through eternal nighttime of space To ride on the crest of a wild raging storm To work in the service of life and the living In search of the answers to questions unknown To be part of the movement and part of the growing Part of beginning to understand

Aye, Voyager, the places you've been to The things that you've shown us The stories you tell Aye, Voyager, I sing to your spirit The men who have served you So long and so well

a tip of the prop to the late John Denver

Interstellar 3.0

[Anonymous Coward]

The point is, the two Voyagers are the last of the first generation of robotic interstellar spacecraft. Interstellar 2.0 will use ion drive, nuclear electric, solar sails, magnetic sails, and other exotic propulsion technologies. Interstellar 3.0 will get useful paylods to other planetary systems, within the lifetime of some slashdot readers. Cost? Less than the Shuttle/Space Station welfare system. Payoff? Priceless! Starflight without Warp Drive Hydrogen Ice Spacecraft for Robotic Interstellar Flight

Re:Can we still ping it?

[Klintus Fang]

not sure how much data they are getting from it now, but they are tracking it. there is an observed anomaly in its current trajectory that is not well understood. Unfortunately I can't find a good link on it, but the issue is this:

the craft's current rate of acceleration as it heads away from the sun is not consistent with current gravitional laws.

From what I've read, it is considered likely that the issue is just some exotic side effect of the conventional physics inside the space craft itself (like waste heat shedding off the craft's antenna exerting a small force on the craft and altering its trajectory slightly). It's possible though that it is an indication of a hole in our existing understanding of gravity.

Not sure what else the craft might be doing. Probably not much. But that little anomaly is pretty interesting.

To put the distance in perspective...

[jd]

Voyager 1 is 100 AU away. 2003 UB313 is 97 AU and Sedna is only 90 AU away. Thus, Voyager 1 is further out than the furthest positively-identified objects in the solar system and is getting close to a theorized inner Oort cloud. I'm sure that I read that it has passed the heliopause - a shockwave that marks the end of the solar winds and the start of the interstellar wind, which would mean that the outermost planet of the solar system is outside the heliosphere. Of all the planets (and plutons) in the solar system, it alone will never feel a single breath of the solar wind.

If, as seems possible, this amateur radio astronomer can detect signals from Voyager 1, it may also be possible for amateur radio astronomers to detect the presence of very faint signals coming from the furthest objects in the solar system, as the iron within them cuts through the charged particle stream of the interstellar winds, which is all you need to generate a radio wave.