To Boldly Go - 6 Voyager Part B January 2015
Scientists at JPL noticed that Voyager
1 detected a drop in the speed of the Solar Winds from 700,000 miles per hour
to 400,000 miles per hour in the month of December 2004. Voyager 1 was then 8.7
billion miles (94 AU) from our Sun and the speed of the Solar Winds continued
to drop. Voyager 1 just crossed a boundary in our Solar System known as
“Termination Shock”. Here the Sun’s Solar Winds charged particles (ionized
Hydrogen Atoms) press against denser charged plasma particles coming from the
Interstellar Space region of the Milky Way. Voyager 2 crossed the “Termination
Shock” in August 2007 at 84 AU.
Beyond the “Termination Shock” boundary Voyager 1 entered a heated and turbulent outer layer of the Heliosphere known as the Heliosheath. Here the Solar Winds drop down to zero speed and the Sun’s magnetic field curls up a upon itself and becomes very hot.
On August 25, 2012, Voyager 1 reached the end of the Heliosheath region and crossed the dividing line between the Heliosphere and Interstellar Space, known as the Heliopause. At this point there are no more Sun’s Solar Winds or magnetic field. Voyager 1 entered interstellar Space, but is Voyager 1 outside of our Solar System? Not really! The Sun’s protective bubble of Solar Winds and magnetic field may have ended at the Heliopause, but the Sun’s gravity did not. The Sun’s Gravity extends to the outer edge of the OORT Cloud and that is the real boundary of our Solar System.
Once in Interstellar Space, the scientists at JPL expected Voyager 1 to experience a nice quiet and smooth ride. That did not happen! Starting in October 2012, Voyager 1 has been buffeted by three Tsunami Shock Waves that were caused by our Sun. Right now Voyager 1 is experiencing the third one that began in February 2014.
A Tsunami Shock Waves is a Coronal Mass Ejection. It is an occasional explosive ejection of materials from the surface of the Sun that generate shock or pressure waves that penetrate the Heliosheath and Heliopause Solar boundaries into Interstellar Space. Riding the third Shock Wave Voyager 1’s velocity has been increased to 38,000 miles per hour and distance traveled to over 250 million miles.
Beyond the “Termination Shock” boundary Voyager 1 entered a heated and turbulent outer layer of the Heliosphere known as the Heliosheath. Here the Solar Winds drop down to zero speed and the Sun’s magnetic field curls up a upon itself and becomes very hot.
On August 25, 2012, Voyager 1 reached the end of the Heliosheath region and crossed the dividing line between the Heliosphere and Interstellar Space, known as the Heliopause. At this point there are no more Sun’s Solar Winds or magnetic field. Voyager 1 entered interstellar Space, but is Voyager 1 outside of our Solar System? Not really! The Sun’s protective bubble of Solar Winds and magnetic field may have ended at the Heliopause, but the Sun’s gravity did not. The Sun’s Gravity extends to the outer edge of the OORT Cloud and that is the real boundary of our Solar System.
Once in Interstellar Space, the scientists at JPL expected Voyager 1 to experience a nice quiet and smooth ride. That did not happen! Starting in October 2012, Voyager 1 has been buffeted by three Tsunami Shock Waves that were caused by our Sun. Right now Voyager 1 is experiencing the third one that began in February 2014.
A Tsunami Shock Waves is a Coronal Mass Ejection. It is an occasional explosive ejection of materials from the surface of the Sun that generate shock or pressure waves that penetrate the Heliosheath and Heliopause Solar boundaries into Interstellar Space. Riding the third Shock Wave Voyager 1’s velocity has been increased to 38,000 miles per hour and distance traveled to over 250 million miles.
The OORT Cloud is a spherical shell of
a few trillion icy bodies enclosing our Solar System. See “Goldilocks Universe
4” for more info on the OORT Cloud.
Voyager 1’s next milestone is the OORT Cloud. It will take only 300 years to reach the inner edge of the OORT Cloud (only 81 Billion Miles to go) and just about 30,000 year to fly through it (just another 9 trillion miles). Then Voyager 1 will have actually have left our Solar System.
Star AC+79 388 (GLIESE 445)
Voyager 1’s next milestone is the OORT Cloud. It will take only 300 years to reach the inner edge of the OORT Cloud (only 81 Billion Miles to go) and just about 30,000 year to fly through it (just another 9 trillion miles). Then Voyager 1 will have actually have left our Solar System.
Star AC+79 388 (GLIESE 445)
If
all goes well in 40,000 years, Voyager 1 will be the neighborhood of a Star
known as AC+79 388 or Gliese 445, a red dwarf Star in the constellation
Camelopardus about 105 trillion miles from Earth.
In a few years, Voyager 2 will also cross into Interstellar Space, but fly in a different direction than Voyager 1. Unfortunately both Voyagers will exhaust there fuel supply in another 10 years and will lose all contact with Earth. But each Voyager contains a gold plated disk that contains sounds and images of life’s diversity on Earth.
To view the contents of the Golden Record click Tab
Voyager at:
www.explore-universe.weebly.com
The scientific discovers of the Voyager Spacecraft will appear in future “Goldilocks Universe” series of articles.
In a few years, Voyager 2 will also cross into Interstellar Space, but fly in a different direction than Voyager 1. Unfortunately both Voyagers will exhaust there fuel supply in another 10 years and will lose all contact with Earth. But each Voyager contains a gold plated disk that contains sounds and images of life’s diversity on Earth.
To view the contents of the Golden Record click Tab
Voyager at:
www.explore-universe.weebly.com
The scientific discovers of the Voyager Spacecraft will appear in future “Goldilocks Universe” series of articles.
