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Voyager 1 Finds Unexpected Wrinkles At the Edge Of the Solar System

Posted by timothy on from the damn-thetans-are-playing-with-us dept.

Voyager 1 has been close to the boundary of the solar system for quite a while; we've mentioned that the edge is near a few times before, including an evidently premature report in 2010 that Voyager had reached a distance so far from the sun that it could no longer detect solar winds and another in 2011 that it had reached an "outer shell" of solar influence. It turns out that the boundaries of the solar system are fuzzier than once anticipated; the L.A. Times is reporting that "Toward the end of July 2012, Voyager 1's instruments reported that solar winds had suddenly dropped by half, while the strength of the magnetic field almost doubled, according to the studies. Those values then switched back and forth five times before they became fixed on Aug. 25. Since then, solar winds have all but disappeared, but the direction of the magnetic field has barely budged." Also at Wired, which notes "That's hard to explain because the galaxy's magnetic field is thought to be inclined 60 degrees from the sun's field. No one is entirely sure what's going on. ... [It's] almost as if Voyager thought it was going outside but instead found itself standing in the foyer of the sun's home with an open door that allows wind to blow in from the galaxy."

8 of 164 comments (clear)

  1. XKCD by NobleSavage · · Score: 5, Funny

    Obligatory XKCD

    1. Re:XKCD by greenfruitsalad · · Score: 3, Funny

      V   GER toying with us

  2. It makes perfect sense. by neoshroom · · Score: 5, Funny

    Unexpected? You didn't think something 4.5 billion years old would have a few wrinkles?

    --
    Big apple, new Yorik, undig it, something's unrotting in Edenmark.
    1. Re:It makes perfect sense. by LordLucless · · Score: 4, Funny

      Not when it's continually expanding - that's like an always-on facelift.

      --
      Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
    2. Re:It makes perfect sense. by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 4, Funny

      Our Solar System lies about it's age, like a Hollywood starlet . . . it uses the Biblical estimate and claims that it is under 10,000 years old.

      So it is a relative hipster on the Universe block.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    3. Re:It makes perfect sense. by Alsee · · Score: 4, Funny

      You didn't think something 4.5 billion years old would have a few wrinkles?

      Dude, the universe is only 6,000 years old and all the stuff about evolution and stars millions of light years away are nothing but lies straight from the pit of hell. Voyager is going to be destroyed any day now as it crashes head-on into the firmament. Hopefully in the last few seconds it can send back the sound of the flood waters being held back by the firmament.

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
    4. Re:It makes perfect sense. by Waccoon · · Score: 3, Funny

      Okay, stretchmarks?

  3. Re:Maybe its the HARDWARE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    everyone knows how much the glans resembles an apple

    Dude, get that checked out by a Doctor, seriously, that sounds problematic.