Gary, I've always wondered just how an object in a stable orbit that far out could suddenly fall towards the Sun in such an elongated trajectory. This may be somewhat offtopic for this article, but could you shed any light on that?
Re:Communications potential of space probes?
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Goodbye, Galileo
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A bit of both. The rate is proportional to the distance over which it has to be transmitted. The last communication from Voyager 2, for example, had a signal power in the microwatt range by the time it reached the Earth and a data rate in the order of a few bytes per minute. Of course, by then it was actually leaving the solar system. Jupiter is much closer in, but still is very far away. I also suspect that the enormous radiation around the planet will play a part.
Following improvements in technology, though, new equipment does start with a higher trasmission rate. The images from Mars Pathfinder were transmitted an order of magnitude faster than those from Viking, if memory serves.
A blackout would be nice for us stargeeks who like to look at galaxies and star clusters.
Dark skies are not needed in this case, though. Mars is shining at a magnitude of -2.9 at the moment, which is about five times brighter than Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. That means you should be able to see it well from the most light polluted urban environment.
Look in the south west at about 1 AM tonight, if you're up. You may be surprised just how bright it is!
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Gary, I've always wondered just how an object in a stable orbit that far out could suddenly fall towards the Sun in such an elongated trajectory. This may be somewhat offtopic for this article, but could you shed any light on that?
A bit of both. The rate is proportional to the distance over which it has to be transmitted. The last communication from Voyager 2, for example, had a signal power in the microwatt range by the time it reached the Earth and a data rate in the order of a few bytes per minute. Of course, by then it was actually leaving the solar system. Jupiter is much closer in, but still is very far away. I also suspect that the enormous radiation around the planet will play a part.
Following improvements in technology, though, new equipment does start with a higher trasmission rate. The images from Mars Pathfinder were transmitted an order of magnitude faster than those from Viking, if memory serves.
A blackout would be nice for us stargeeks who like to look at galaxies and star clusters.
Dark skies are not needed in this case, though. Mars is shining at a magnitude of -2.9 at the moment, which is about five times brighter than Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. That means you should be able to see it well from the most light polluted urban environment.
Look in the south west at about 1 AM tonight, if you're up. You may be surprised just how bright it is!