Voyager 1 to Reach 100 AU from Sun
The old Voyager spacecraft is leaving our solar system.
Voyager 1, which was instrumental in changing the way we look at the solar system, will be 100 times farther from the Sun than Earth on approximately August 12.
Do you remember Voyager 1? Ah, the good old days. Carl Sagan in tweed jackets, Cosmos on PBS gathering more viewers than ever before, viewing the outer planets as whole new worlds with close-up photos of storms and hidden rings.
Launched on September 5, 1977, Voyager 1 cruised outward from Earth, headed toward Jupiter and Saturn. Reaching Jupiter in early 1979 and then Saturn in late 1980, the images the spacecraft brought back changed the astronomical world and peoples' perception of the universe they live in.
Voyager 2 also passed Jupiter and Saturn but continued on to reveal the mysteries of Uranus and Neptune while Voyager 1 began its race out of the solar system. It is still in that race. Pioneers 10 and 11, launched in 1972 and 1973 respectively, are also zooming away from the Sun. But the faster speed of Voyager 1 allowed it to pass the other two spacecraft in distance, although they are moving in different directions outward. On February 17, 1998, Voyager 1 became the most distant human-made object in space.
Now, as it continues its journey ever outward, traveling at a speed of 17 kilometers per second, it will reach a distance of 100 AU on approximately August 12. AU is the shorthand for astronomical unit, which is equal to the distance between Earth and the Sun, or 93 million miles. At 100 times farther from the Sun than Earth, Voyager 1 is expected to reach the heliopause in 2015. The heliopause is the point in space where the sun's solar wind ends and interstellar space begins. Voyager 1, which, incredibly, is still functioning after nearly 30 years in space and 99.9 AU, will continue to report back to Earth and investigate its surroundings, giving readings on the distant influence of the Sun.
Voyager carries a phonograph record, already quaint by today's standards, which hold messages of greetings from the inhabitants of Earth. The gold-plated copper disc contains sounds of the natural world along with greetings in 55 languages. The selection of sounds to include on the record was chosen by a committee headed by Carl Sagan. The record is meant as a friendly token to any extraterrestrial life that may encounter it. Although the record will soon be leaving our solar system, it would be at least 40 thousand years before Voyager might encounter another solar system. By then who knows what Earth will be like. But Carl Sagan, who is already gone, said that, "the launching of this bottle into the cosmic ocean says something very hopeful about life on this planet."
For a photo gallery of images taken by the Voyager spacecraft, go to Voyager Photos.
