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[GK86]

Link.

In 2012, NASA's Voyager 1 probe became the first man-made object to leave the solar system, catapulting itself into the farthest reaches of the universe ever touched by humans — or, it didn't. Determining the exact borders of our solar system proved controversial. Now, though, we know NASA's position on the subject: although the probe has yet to leave the solar system, it's entered interstellar space, a part of the universe the human race has never reached.

Why the waffling? Partly, Voyager 1 seems to be involved in a weird semantic game. The sun emits a magnetic field around itself, which is known as a solar bubble and encases the heliosphere, a magnetic sphere that is arguably the edge of the solar system. But like an embattled country, the borders of the solar system are controversial; where it ends depends on who you ask. When the probe appeared to exit the heliosphere, many cheered it on for leaving the solar system; others simply said it had entered interstellar space, the area beyond the heliosphere. NASA, in an announcement this week, hedged the debate: Voyager 1 has, beyond doubt, reached interstellar space, although it's still within our solar system.

Determining that fact requires relying on stop-and-go data. Every so often, the sun lets out a coronal mass ejection, an awe-inspiring eruption powerful enough to vibrate the particles around the probe, giving NASA a momentary blip of data it can use to determine the probe's position. Voyager 1 has been hit by three CMEs since it entered interstellar space in 2012. The first was too small to immediately be detected. The second, from March 2013, gave scientists a reasonable indication that the probe had entered interstellar space. The third, which hit in March of this year and was announced by NASA scientists this week, removed any lingering doubt about the probe: Voyager 1 has entered interstellar space.

NASA tamped down the announcement, though, by adding that the probe had not officially made its way out of the solar system, since it has yet to break through a cosmic halo of comets at its farthest edge. Researchers have estimated breaking that ring, known as the Oort Cloud, will take another 14,000 to 28,000 years.

 

[Escape Goat]

So many false starts that no1cur n e more.

 

[DieH@rd]

 

[NaM]

Wasn't this confirmed last year?

 

[Slayven]

I feel like this is the 20th time they said that.

 

[speculawyer]

Vger will return.

 

[Diprosalic]

 

[evilromero]

Researchers have estimated breaking that ring, known as the Oort Cloud, will take another 14,000 to 28,000 years

Almost there!

 

[Dega]

I wonder what will happen to Voyager when we have ships fast enough to catch up to it in a fraction of the time. Just keep letting it go? Will someone try to steal it? lol

 

[BruiserBear]

Wasn't this confirmed last year?

I was just thinking the same thing. I guess the problem is defining at what exact point are you "out" of our solar system.

Regardless, it's pretty amazing to think how far a man made object has traveled at this point.

 

[AGoodODST]

I was just thinking the same thing. I guess the problem is defining at what exact point are you "out" of our solar system.

Regardless, it's pretty amazing to think how far a man made object has traveled at this point.

And that it is still functioning.

 

[CarpeDeezNutz]

Think I have seen this thread more times than the Groundhog Day one.

 

[Dhuie]

Regardless of when it made it to intersteller space it's still a top effort.


Looking forward to V'ger(s) return.

beaten

 

[chuckddd]

It'll be back.

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

Wasn't this confirmed last year?

It's been 'confirmed' and argued over more than once.

 

[God Dayumm]

Let me guess, now Pluto is considered interstellar territory.

 

[Escape Goat]

Regardless of when it made it to intersteller space it's still a top effort.


Looking forward to V'ger(s) return.

What about V-giny?

 

[Enduin]

So much this. I feel like we've seen this same story like 4 times in the last year. Still badass though.

 

[Diprosalic]

So much this. I feel like we seen this same story like 4 times in the last year. Still badass though.

well technically OP is saying that it hasn't but it still reminded me of that picture.

 

[Escape Goat]

The take away here is that NASA has finally made a ruling.

 

[Sectorseven]

Oort, wasn't he from the planet Bort?

 

[Aiii]

This image is gonna need to be a lot longer if it's gonna take at least another 14,000 years for the thing to actually leave the solar system.

 

[Snaku]

Kirk Unit!

 

[TOP SHOTTA]

I feel like they make one reason/excuse or another every few years to say this.
Voyager 1 has been in outer/interstellar space for the last 10 years, according to the science stories I have read on the matter - or at least I feel that way and I do pay attention to this kind of stuff.

 

[injurai]

This is like the third time this has happened...

clearly it's entering the twilight zone

 

[besada]

Clearly the edge of the solar system is actually Zeno's Paradox.

 

[Parch]

28,000 years?!? Holy crap, Oort making the solar system really big.

But it makes sense. As long as there's something orbiting the sun it should be considered part of the solar system.

 

[AkuMifune]

Intergalactic forces have been notified that a man-made object has entered interstellar space, triggering automated alarms that it's time to send another meteor to Earth, just like when the Dinosaur scientists sent their first object out.

We are all already dead .jpeg

 

[foxtrot3d]

Vger will return.

Can I have sex with it though?

 

[mclem]

Link.

I was about to say that I thought I'd heard this a while ago

 

[kehs]

New data collected by NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft have helped scientists confirm that the far-flung probe is indeed cruising through interstellar space, the researchers say.

Voyager 1 made headlines around the world last year when mission scientists announced that the probe had apparently left the heliosphere — the huge bubble of charged particles and magnetic fields surrounding the sun — in August 2012.

https://news.yahoo.com/confirmed-voyager-1-interstellar-space-171605357.html

 

[teruterubozu]

Researchers have estimated breaking that ring, known as the Oort Cloud, will take another 14,000 to 28,000 years.

Might as well claim we got somewhere before we're all dead. Interstellar - or "in between stars" - sounds good enough.

 

[AkuMifune]

Can I have sex with it though?

 

[AlStrong]

Can I have sex with it though?

Practise makes perfect.

 

[Mr. Poolman]

We should hurry up and catch it and attach some new rockets or something

 

[The Elite]

Ah, the "Voyager 1 is the first man made craft to reach interstellar space" post for the month.

 

[Cosmonaut X]

IT'S TOO LATE NOW.

THEY KNOW WE'RE HERE.

GLASS-SHARP FINGERS IN MY MIND AS THEY ARRIVE ON COLD INTERSTELLAR WINDS...

 

[lefantome]

We've gone too far.

The reapers are coming to filter us!

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

And that it is still functioning.

 

[Ovid]

Wasn't this confirmed last year?

You didn't bother to read the article did you?

Voyager 1 has been hit by three CMEs since it entered interstellar space in 2012. The first was too small to immediately be detected. The second, from March 2013, gave scientists a reasonable indication that the probe had entered interstellar space. The third, which hit in March of this year and was announced by NASA scientists this week, removed any lingering doubt about the probe: Voyager 1 has entered interstellar space.

 

[FelixOrion]

.

 

[Blargonaut]

Researchers have estimated breaking that ring, known as the Oort Cloud, will take another 14,000 to 28,000 years.

 

[Dicer]

Think I have seen this thread more times than the Groundhog Day one.

Time for Flapjacks?

 

[Ahasverus]

NASA tamped down the announcement, though, by adding that the probe had not officially made its way out of the solar system, since it has yet to break through a cosmic halo of comets at its farthest edge. Researchers have estimated breaking that ring, known as the Oort Cloud, will take another 14,000 to 28,000 years.

We're almost there guys.

 

[CitizenVectron]

I wonder what will happen to Voyager when we have ships fast enough to catch up to it in a fraction of the time. Just keep letting it go? Will someone try to steal it? lol

It belongs in a museum.

 

[saltinekracka]

Well said.

 

[Log4Girlz]

Man I can't wait for it to enter interstellar space again in a few weeks

 

[Envelope]

the coolest thing about Voyager 1 is that it's still working