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Voyager 2 Set to Reach Termination Shock

Invisible Pink Unicorn writes "A computer model simulation developed at UC Riverside has predicted that in late 2007 to early 2008, the interplanetary spacecraft Voyager 2 will cross the termination shock, the spherical shell around the solar system that marks where the solar wind slows down to subsonic speed. At the termination shock, located at 7-8.5 billion miles from the sun, the solar wind is decelerated to less than the speed of sound. The boundary of the termination shock is not fixed, however, but wobbly, fluctuating in both time and distance from the sun, depending on solar activity. Because of this fluctuation, the spacecraft is also predicted to cross the boundary again in middle 2008. The article abstract is available from The Astrophysical Journal."

9 of 308 comments (clear)

  1. Voyager 2... by jez9999 · · Score: 5, Funny

    There's a Voyager 2?! Oh God no; come back Enterprise, all is forgiven...

  2. Re:And then what? by niceone · · Score: 5, Funny

    It means Janeway's going to have to pretend to be thrown all over the place while bits of the ship fall off.

  3. Re:Maybe... by Galaga88 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Much like killing Rasputin, leaving the Solar System is apparently an ongoing process marked by significant milestones.

  4. Re:Remind me again by Nos. · · Score: 5, Funny

    So, in space, they can hear you scream?

  5. Re:Remind me again by AragornSonOfArathorn · · Score: 4, Funny

    So, in space, they can hear you scream? Yes, but they have to take off their helmets to hear you. And then they scream.
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    sudo eat my shorts
  6. Re:And then what? by GodfatherofSoul · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why do you go on vacation to foreign places...

    OMG, underage Taiwanese hookers...in space?
    --
    I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
  7. Re:Remind me again by magarity · · Score: 4, Funny

    See, space is not empty
     
    It's full of stars...

  8. The edge of... by infodude · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's going to reach the edge of the simulation, where it'll get rendered in lower resolution.

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    -- Only information exists, the rest is just smoke and mirrors.
  9. Re:Maybe... by ghostlibrary · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yep, Voyager has approached the theoretical location of the termination shock often-- and each time, we get to revise our theories and have a better understanding of just how interesting our sun is. The joke among solar physicists is: "Where is the termination shock?" 'Just past Voyager.'

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    A.