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Short Sharp Science: A New Scientist blog

Voyager 1 probe reaches new solar system frontier

Maggie McKee, space news editor
(Image: NASA/JPL)

NASA's Voyager 1 probe has reached a new frontier, 33 years into its voyage to the edge of the solar system and beyond. Since June, when it was 17 billion kilometres from the sun, it has stopped seeing particles in the solar wind streaming outwards. It is thought that pressure from incoming interstellar particles is pushing the solar wind sideways.

"The solar wind has turned the corner," Voyager project scientist Ed Stone of Caltech said in a statement. "Voyager 1 is getting close to interstellar space."

Voyager 1 is expected to leave the solar system and enter interstellar space four years from now (click here for a definition of the regions in the illustration above).

Its sister spacecraft, Voyager 2, has been travelling in a different direction and at a slightly slower speed; it is expected to pass various solar system thresholds a few years after its faster sibling, NASA says.

Voyager 1's results were presented on Monday at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.

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Our first intergalactic steps... Makes me proud to be human.


Interstellar is the word you're looking for, KC - we still got a few hundred lightyears to go before we may call it intergalactic :-)


It’s interesting that this story appears on the same day as some well-meaning individual advocates more public input into science spending decisions (“Time to democratize science”). If the general public (as opposed to experts, i.e. the old shibboleth “the military-industrial bureaucracy”) had been in charge of decision-making, Voyager 1 would never have been launched, let alone its mission be ongoing 33 years later.


How does they can be sure about it? Last signal from Voyager 1 was many years ago. When it was near Saturn or Uran. Can they see it at telescope at such distance?



As incredible as it seems, Voyager 1 stil sends data about the relative speed ot the solar wind. Follow the link to the NASA article and take the time to read it. Amazing.


not hundreds, potentially tens of thousands. it depends which direction relative to the plane of our galaxy. if it leaves via the closest leading edge then maybe a few hundred to a thousand light years, but if it goes across, even though it wouldn't make it past the super massive b-hole, but if it did and just missed, it would need to travel about 90-100 thousand light years to leave.


Dinarchik, NASA are still in touch with Voyager 1.


Sorry but Voyager is certainly NOT about to reach interstellar space at least not before several centuries. Solar wind is just one part of the picture. There are many bodies orbiting the Sun at such distances e.g. Eris, Sedna (with an orbit that brings it at aphelia at 900AU, that is nine times further than Voyager1 current position!). The Oort Cloud may extend upto several tens of thousands of AU. Difficult to call it "Interstellar Space"!

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