Nasa's Voyager 2 probe 'leaves the Solar System'

My all-time favorite graph is the plot of incident solar particles on Voyager 1 in 2012 [0][1]. That to me is the perfect image of scientific thinking. &quot;We anticipate that the probe will enter interstellar space and see a significant drop in the number of incident solar particles.&quot; And then it happens, clear as day.<p>I teach high school math and science, and I have shown this graph to students every year. Many students get what this really means. They suddenly understand how far Voyager is from us, and how small and isolated our solar system really is in the universe.<p>Now it will be fun to show them the same graph from Voyager 2 [2][3]!<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net&#x2F;newman&#x2F;gfx&#x2F;news&#x2F;hires&#x2F;2012&#x2F;jyguyg.jpg" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net&#x2F;newman&#x2F;gfx&#x2F;news&#x2F;hire...</a><p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;phys.org&#x2F;news&#x2F;2012-10-voyager-left-solar.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;phys.org&#x2F;news&#x2F;2012-10-voyager-left-solar.html</a><p>[2] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;earth-chronicles.com&#x2F;wp-content&#x2F;uploads&#x2F;2018&#x2F;11&#x2F;voyazh.png" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;earth-chronicles.com&#x2F;wp-content&#x2F;uploads&#x2F;2018&#x2F;11&#x2F;voyaz...</a><p>[3] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;earth-chronicles.com&#x2F;space&#x2F;voyager-2-is-even-closer-to-the-border-of-the-solar-system.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;earth-chronicles.com&#x2F;space&#x2F;voyager-2-is-even-closer-t...</a>

If you haven&#x27;t watched it yet, &quot;The Farthest: Voyager in Space&quot; is an incredibly great documentary recently released by PBS<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.netflix.com&#x2F;title&#x2F;80204377" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.netflix.com&#x2F;title&#x2F;80204377</a>

Voyager 2 has been &quot;leaving the Solar System&quot; regularly for quite a while now. Example from 2007: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nature.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;2007&#x2F;071210&#x2F;full&#x2F;news.2007.365.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nature.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;2007&#x2F;071210&#x2F;full&#x2F;news.2007.365.h...</a><p>I guess the actual thresholds crossed are different but at this point who cares, unless you actually know those thresholds. It&#x27;s out there and getting farther out. Yay.<p>If you can&#x27;t describe an achievement without sensationalizing the hell out of it for the Nth time, maybe don&#x27;t describe it.

Have we been able to launch faster spacecraft since? I&#x27;m thinking whether there could potentially be a newer interstellar probe that could overtake the Voyagers 1 and 2 on the way out of the Solar system.

&gt; Voyager 1 departed Earth on 5 September 1977, a few days after its sister spacecraft, Voyager 2.<p>Well that’s unusual isn’t it? Perhaps there was a temporary issue&#x2F;delay with #1? I didn’t see the explanation in the article.

How do they manage to keep sending data back? Is there a really really directional antenna that points at the Earth?

How much of a lag is there in the data transmission? I guess that should correspond to how many light years it is away? How does the probe know which direction to send the data? I have so many questions! I gotta watch that documentary and listen to the podcast people are suggesting here!

Quote from the article:<p>&quot;the US space agency says that Voyager 2 has a working instrument aboard that will provide &quot;first-of-its-kind observations of the nature of this gateway into interstellar space&quot;.&quot;<p>Does anyone know what Voyager 2 is carrying that Voyager 1 wasn&#x27;t that might give interesting data in this part of space?

They should send these out every decade or so. Especially if they could get to where they can relay data from probes further out. Technology advances so quickly, after all.

just to be clear, it hasn&#x27;t &quot;left the solar system&quot;, it left the heliosphere. They said it still needs to leave the OOrt cloud before it has officially &quot;left the solar system&quot;.<p>but, it&#x27;s cool that it will continue transmitting until about 2027!

The big news is that Voyager 2 should be experiencing more interstellar medium than atmosphere from our star at this point. It will still be a while before it could be said to truly &quot;leave the Solar System&quot; if you consider gravitational influence to be a factor. There are objects still orbiting our star at more than a light year away for example (Oort cloud).

Do we actually know where they end up? Is it possible to make a reliable calculation on their trajectory in let&#x27;s say 50.000 years? Do they get locked in a next solar system or will they continuesly be catapulted between systems? They are not solar powered right? So they won&#x27;t be powered up again when reaching a next star (assuming all electronics are still alive)

What always amazes me is the vast difference between the visual and non-visual effect of the sun. From that distance, the sun is just another glowing speck in the distance, and yet its gravity and radiation is still felt. Like if you had a speaker the size of a pinhead that you could hear from a mile away. (Or probably a lot more).

&gt; Voyager 1 will not approach another star for nearly 40,000 years That&#x27;s a lonely ride...

Anyone happen to know if the Voyager&#x27;s energy is such to exceed escape velocity wrt sun?

Relevant xkcd: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;xkcd.com&#x2F;1189&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;xkcd.com&#x2F;1189&#x2F;</a>

Again?

Too soon to make a &quot;one small step&quot; joke?

This is great and everything but is there really a need to get this status report every year. If so, shouldn&#x27;t it rather read: still leaving the Solar System?