No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people? (Voyager leaves Solar System)

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people?

Suck our giant American space penis, bitches!

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people?

Awesome.

Who else can leave something completely alone for three decades and have it be a scientific milestone?

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people?

Well, it's well on its way to becoming V'Ger. So, we've got that going for us.

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people?

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people?

This is our first interstellar craft. There should be more of a fuss.

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people?

Maybe you should neg-rep the whole of humanity.

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people?

I think I read it has something like 64mb of memory? Less then a smart phone.. Cool stuff!

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people?

Eh... arright. Why not.

ROOBA-ROOBA-ROOBA-ROOBA

Was that... sufficiently fussy?

Well, I tried.

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people?

Or it WILL be if it ever reaches another star.

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people?

Where space becomes "interstellar" seems to be open to a wide interpretation. And, in terms of interstellar distances, Voyager is practically still on Earth. 10,000 years from now, Voyager STILL won't be near half-way to another star.

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people?

69kb of memory, less than a floppy disk.

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people?

It isn't heading toward any other star...

But interstellar would seem to me to be the same thing as outside the solar system, no?

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people?

True. Wikipedia says that in 40,000 years, it will pass within 1.6 light years of Gliese 445, which is about 18 light years away. My guess is humans will travel out to retrieve Voyager 1 and put in a museum long, long before that.

Yes, indeed.

Saying we're in interstellar space is like a swimmer at the beach saying he's out in the ocean: while it's technically true, the shore is still close and the land on the other side of the ocean very, very far.

Edit: interesting to note that our relative positions to nearby stars are changing. While Proxima Centauri is the closest star to us today, in about 38,000 years, the closest star will be Ross 248 (today more than a dozen light years away) and it will be WITHIN three light years. Wikipedia link.

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people?

This is like the 10th time they've told us that Voyager has left the solar system. And they still are really 100% sure even this time.

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people? (Voyager leaves Solar Syste

I consider "leaving the solar system" to be beyond the most distant planet at that time.

By that standard Voyager left the solar system decades ago.

Of course if you consider the Oort cloud part of our solar system it will still be years and years before Voyager passes that will it not?

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people? (Voyager leaves Solar Syste

That's why this news isn't a bigger deal: there is no clear definition of what constitutes "out of the Solar System."

Is it past the orbit of the last planet? Is it at the heliopause? Is it where the sun's magnetic field gives way to the interstellar magnetic field? Is it at the boundary of the Oort Cloud?

There just is no neat "Solar System Ends Here" boundary.

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people? (Voyager leaves Solar Syste

I'm surprised Obama hasn't put a sign up at the edge of the galaxy.

I picture it something like:

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people? (Voyager leaves Solar Syste



SCIENCE BITCHES!!!

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people? (Voyager leaves Solar Syste

Wait, so even though Voyager is not free from the Sun's gravity, you'd consider that "out of the solar system"?

About 30,000 years. Better grab a Snickers.

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people? (Voyager leaves Solar Syste

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people? (Voyager leaves Solar Syste

It has NOT escaped the Sun's GRAVITATIONAL influence. It has escaped the influence of the Sun's charged particles.

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people? (Voyager leaves Solar Syste

It left without saying goodbye...good riddance!

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people? (Voyager leaves Solar Syste

It would have to go about 30,000 light years to escape the Sun's gravitational influence.

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people? (Voyager leaves Solar Syste

That's one needy bitch.

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people? (Voyager leaves Solar Syste

No. About 1 light year. Which would take about 30,000 years.

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people? (Voyager leaves Solar Syste

The Sun's gravity balances it's position in relation to the center of the galaxy, which is 30,000 light years. It's influence is miniscule at that distance, but there.

Same way the Moon's gravity balances its distance to the Earth at a quarter of a million miles, but still manages to create the tides in our oceans.

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people? (Voyager leaves Solar Syste

It's influence is miniscule at about a light year out as well. Beyond that, you're talking about exponential fractions of near-nothingness. The Oort Cloud is about the extent of the noticeable effect of the Sun's gravity.

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people? (Voyager leaves Solar Syste

Then at what exponential fraction of near-nothingness do we declare that Voyager has left the Solar System?

Re: No thread on this? What the fuck is wrong with you people? (Voyager leaves Solar Syste

At the very least, not until it passes a point where the Sun's gravitational pull is no longer the dominant one. So, I'd say that's just beyond the Oort Cloud. And even NASA is refraining from using the phrase "Left the Solar System". That's what the media is inferring by NASA saying "entered interstellar space". They think "entering interstellar space" equals "left the solar system" and it simply isn't correct.


Here's a relevent article:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astr...ce_probe_is_in_now_in_interstellar_space.html

An official source from NASA backs me up on this. They did an AMA on Reddit today:

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1m9wke/were_scientists_and_engineers_on_nasas_voyager/cc75u1h