Voyager near Solar System's edge

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While tantalus cannot post links, I can. I edited this post to add a link to the BBC article and to remove a lot of the quoted content. You can read the full article by following the link.

Voyager near Solar System's edge. The article is on today's (13 December 2010 ) BBC website. Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11988466

I find it exciting to think we will have managed to exit the solar system for the first time, altough it depends on what you define as the edge of the solar system, some may argue that they are already out, but I think it is mostly agreed that we still havent achieved that milestone (milestone - hmmm not a very suitable word

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).

 

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I read somewhere, someone correct me, our Sun's gravitational effect
actually extends 3.6 light years. The nearest star is 3.4 light years, therefore
the pull of our solar system in theory may have a very small effect on
Alpha Centauri, and likewise other star systems may have some influence
on our Sun and possibly the Earth as well. Everything is connected to everything
else, it is the cosmic web. I don't know if it is possible to measure such forces
but if they do influence bodies so very far away then it does not seem
so unrealistic to believe that celestial dynamics somehow determine our
own lives hear on Earth.

 

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And here is NASA's illustration the BBC used to head up the article:

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Link to BBC article now in post 1 (the OP).

Presumably, your head viewing this illustration is on the line from our solar system towards the center of our galaxy and the white arrows indicate the solar system "plowing thru" "interstellar space" in our galaxy as our solar system orbits about the black hole at galaxy center.

I wonder: Does our galaxy have a "galopause" shock as it plows thru inter galactic space?

 

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I'm sure we made it clear to Voyager that humans were it's creator. Didn't we?

 

Yes we did, and rather well, I think:
Cover:

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Record:

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Perhaps finders hear in a very different range or not at all?
The "dumb bell" near bottom right of cover and next to the star of dashes, represent the H2 molecule. A very well known source to all intelligent life forms due to its strong 21cm radiation from space. The dashed lines of the "star" at its left are a dozen of so pulsars, angles as seen from Earth. That tells where in the universe we were. Each line gives the pulsar frequency in terms of the 21cm H2 line frequency. Pulsars have very steady pulse rates, but they are related to the plusar's spin rate, which over millions of years does slow down. By telling the pulse rate when pioneer was launch in these terms even if a billion years from now it is found, by some life form that is just now starting to evolve from single cell life, they will be able to tell when in the history of the universe pioneer was launched.

The above illustration on right is one side of a record called "sounds of Earth" that includes many people speaking many languages, and many natural sounds etc. and video, of what I do not know. It is not the engraved metal plate, designed by Carl Sagan, which I think all spacecraft leaving our solar system carry. That plate has a line drawing, simple but explicit, frontal illustration of a nude man and woman, showing we were a sexual pair and this same "time and from where" data.

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more facts at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record Finders likely can see, but bees don't see images so that is not sure.*
and links listed there. My text from my memory so may have errors.

*Bees see polarization and source of light directions, but no image (or if they do, they have no image recognition / memory.)

 

Woot! Voyager is officially interstellar! I can't wait for news from Camelopardalis. Really.

 

Think about the strength and makeup of this region, that can bend the sun's flow like a river flowing into an ocean. This is certainly going to be interesting.

 

Proxima Centuri is 4.2 Ly distance.

Astronomers define the Solar System as the distance under the influence of gravity from the Sun. We know that the Sun holds distant Pluto in orbit (5.9 billion km away on average). But astronomers think that the Oort Cloud extends out to a distance of 50,000 astronomical units (1 AU is the distance from the Earth to the Sun), or 1 light-year. In fact, the influence of the Sun’s gravity could extend out to 2 light-years away, the point at which the pull from other stars is stronger.~http://www.universetoday.com/18373/gravity-of-the-sun/

 

Well, we've passed the Kuiper Belt - if my arithmetic is correct - but as Saquist points out the Opik-Oort Cloud remains beyond. Nitpicking distinctions, however, do not detract from the magnificence of this achievement.

 

Billy T, too cool. I think they did a great job with that audio.

If I were an alien and I found only an audio record I would be seriously depressed! Just like Christmas, you think you're getting the toy and you get a sock. Ok the sock is helpful, but come on it's Christmas! Does Nasa think aliens are blind?

Did they put video on-board?

 

The problem is that this satellite won't ever reach another planet for the nearest star we have is 4 light years away and it has no planets revolving around it. The nearest star that does have planets is over 100 light years away and the satellite isn't heading toward it. So this satellite won't ever reach another planet for it will collide with something long before then and be destroyed so all of this fuss about another civilization ever receiving this will never come to fruition.

 

My point was that we were thinking that this satellite was going to be found by another civilization that would be able to read it and learn about us but now we know that won't happen. When this satellite was launched we didn't know where planets were located or even if other planets existed because we couldn't "see" any with the telescopes we had back them. Since that time we discovered planets revolving around some stars but over 100 light years away. The satellite isn't heading towards any known stars that have planets which means no one will find this satellite.

 

You really need to change that wholly inappropriate name Cosmic Traveller. It doesn't suit the small town mentality.

1. There are eighty six planets identified around stars that are closer than 100 light years to the Earth. The closest of these is Epsilon Eridani b at 10.43 light years.
2. You completely misunderstood the purpose of the message. It was a statement of justifiable pride directed to ourselves.

 

So you believe that I have a small town mentality? If that is so why do I talk about setting up ways to live on distant planets? I've also stated many things about astronomical things that we have found and are trying to find. Just because I'm not a devoted astronomer or astrophysicist doesn't mean I have a small town mentality but a mentality which grows whenever I find out about something new either here on earth or in the cosmos.

 

Almost sure it is on the record. Cannot have long segments of video on an audio record, but that is recoding information, not necessarily a direct source for playing like a DVD. The text at bottom right of post 5 tells us how they should process the information recorded to see the video. That is probably clearly stated in the audio too. Don't worry, if they know what vision / seeing images is all about and do have that sense, they will figure out how to watch the video.

My main worry is they may be like the honey bee - have no ideas about images - only sense the angular direction of various polarizations and colors of light. etc. Sort like if we got their "pioneer disk"; Deciphered it into English, which said: To tactulate the electric aomm experience do....

 

I think it has already survived the greatest danger zone. Now in interstellar space I would expect the average time between collisions with even microgram masses would be at least 100,000 years.

 

Stay tuned... News at 11 (thousand years).

Seriously, congrats to everyone who was involved in that brilliant voyage. It was an amazing show.

 

not ideal but ofcourse this assessment is based on our knowledge and capabilities, if there is intelligent life we dont know what its capabilites are or where it is, it could be travelling around some unhabitable solar system out of pure interest we never expected to be in, I think it is safe to say we going blind and ofcourse iam stating the obvious when I say that the chances of us coming into touch with another intelligent lifeform is close to zero.

true but hopefully in can offer us more

What data is the voyager capable of transmitting back to us?

I was telling someone about it the another day and they were telling me about computer power in the 1970s, considering the state of our tech in 1977this really is a brillant achievement. Everyone involved deserves great credit.

 

None, it has stopped provindg data long ago. It doesn't have the power to transmit any signal this far any longer.

Just like all of the radio telescopes that project their transmissions into deep space eventually those signals die out for lack of power to get out of this galaxy. Most signals sent by SETI don't have the power to reach the nearest star that has a planet revolving around it as well so why do they think they will ever reach out to another civilization anywhere if they do not have the power to get out there? :shrug: