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now it was just a guess – but now there is no longer any doubt: “Voyager 1″, the messenger of the farthest humanity has left the solar system – a historic step of mankind. ” / p> div
For the first time in human history a spacecraft has left the solar system: the NASA veteran “Voyager 1″ has crossed the border into outer space after about 35 years of flight time how U.S. researchers report by Donald Gurnett of the University of Iowa in the journal “Science” based on new data.
“Now that we have new, crucial data, we believe that this is the historic step of humanity in the interstellar space,” explained the “Voyager” Project Scientist The U.S. space agency Nasa, Edward Stone.
previously had been repeatedly suggested that the probe had reached the end of the solar system, NASA had so far not confirmed, however. The “Voyager” team have had time to analyze and interpret the new observations, added Stone, who is not one of the authors of the new study. “But now we can answer the question we have all asked ourselves:” Are we there yet? – Yes, we are “
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“Voyager 1″ (traveler) was 5 September was launched in 1977, the twin probe “Voyager 2″ are about two weeks earlier, on 20 August. According to the data now evaluated “Voyager 1″ in 2012 left our solar system.
19 billion kilometers away
The probe hurtling around 60,000 kilometers per hour through space and is at a distance of just under 19 billion kilometers, the farthest messenger to mankind. Because of the enormous distance, the radio signals from the probe more than 17 hours on the way to Earth.
The slower flying “Voyager 2″ is now about 15 billion kilometers away from Earth, and thanks to her previous start, the longest continuously operating spacecraft.
The boundary of our solar system, called the heliopause, is defined as the place where the constant stream of particles from the sun is stopped by the interstellar particles flowing in from the outside. Behind the heliopause begins the interstellar medium. The influence of the gravitational force of the sun, however, goes even further clear.
On 25 August of last year the number of solar particles in “Voyagers’ instruments was suddenly dropped by more than a factor of 1000. At the same time, the number of interstellar particles increased by almost ten percent.
Even then, researchers had believed that “Voyager 1″ was advanced into the interstellar space. But only new data from this April and from October last year, now allowed key provisions of the particle densities.
limit already happened in July 2012
Result: The particle density now corresponds to the expectations of the interstellar medium. “We have clearly passed the heliopause, the boundary between long suspected the solar and interstellar plasma,” said the lead author of the study, Donald Gurnett. “Probably in August 2012.”
The boundary of our solar system would have exceeded the probe therefore in about 18 billion kilometers from the sun, which is about 121 times as far as the distance of the Earth to the Sun.
“Voyager is boldly advanced into regions, the probe has not reached before, which marks one of the most significant technological achievements in the history of science,” said the head of the NASA Science Directorate, John Grunsfeld. “By penetrating into the interstellar space, it opens a new chapter of scientific endeavor and dreams of the people.”
Until 2025 can deliver the expected probe data, their source of energy will be exhausted. “Voyager 1″ is silent, however, continue to slide in space and only happen in more than 38,000 years to the nearest star, a weakly shining sun with the catalog number AC +79 3888 in the constellation Ursa Minor.
For the extremely unlikely event that an alien civilization would meet her earthly ambassador, wearing both “Voyager” Twins with a gold plated copper record with the title: “sounds of ground “with them and a record player -. Instructions included
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