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It's been announced that Voyager 1 has left the solar system so many times, I didn't expect to read an article that said Voyager 1 hadn't even left the solar sy

It's been announced that Voyager 1 has left the solar system so many times, I didn't expect to read an article that said Voyager 1 hadn't even left the solar system at all yet!

pavanky 13y ago
Relevant xkcd http://xkcd.com/1189/ http://xkcd.com/1189/
- squidsoup 13y ago
  Is there some kind of law that states for all science/maths/technology phenomena there is a relevant xkcd?
  - protomyth 13y ago
    There are even fan additions to make them relevant: http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=55907&start=280#p1997605 http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=55907&start=280#p... or http://imageshack.us/a/img32/4845/spiritisnothing.png http://imageshack.us/a/img32/4845/spiritisnothing.png
  - andrewflnr 13y ago
    Feels like for any phenomenon in life you can find one, even if the link is occasionally tenuous.
Strom 13y ago
Yeah, but none of those announcements have come from NASA. In fact, one of the recent solar system exit announcements triggered NASA to publish a press release [1] to let everyone know that Voyager 1 has, in fact, NOT left the solar system and all these announcements are wild speculation by people who don't directly work on the Voyager 1 team. [1] http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/voyager20130320.html http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/voyager20130320.ht...
snorkel 13y ago
That's what's so baffling about it: our solar system is Hotel California.
swamp40 13y ago
My understanding is that as soon as the magnetic field shifts, Voyager will be declared to have "left the solar system". The solar wind has died down, the cosmic rays have increased (although they are unexpectedly coming from a single direction), and the magnetic field shift will be the third and final necessary event. And they expect it soon (could be months or years).
- hnriot 13y ago
  "unexpectedly" - those that know the Mothership is waiting aren't in the slightest but surprised by this.
- quantumpotato_ 13y ago
  What theories are out there as to the single-direction?
  - datalus 13y ago
    "To all intents, cosmic rays arrive evenly from all directions in the sky, but this does not necessarily mean their sources are evenly spread around us. More likely, they are constantly deflected and scattered by magnetic fields in the galaxy, until any trace of their original motion is lost."[0] A crude hypothesis would be that there's some sort of magnetic field that is directing them from a single location. Since we've never been this far before, its a pretty huge guess... [0]: http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wcosray.html http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wcosray.html
Achshar 13y ago
We don't know the edge yet. we are discovering it. It's a frontier. So how do you cross something that you don't even know the size of. All the announcements are of different definitions of the edge. There are many edges.

It's been announced that Voyager 1 has left the solar system so many times, I didn't expect to read an article that said Voyager 1 hadn't even left the solar system at all yet!

pavanky 13y ago

Relevant xkcd http://xkcd.com/1189/ http://xkcd.com/1189/

squidsoup 13y ago
Is there some kind of law that states for all science/maths/technology phenomena there is a relevant xkcd?
- protomyth 13y ago
  There are even fan additions to make them relevant: http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=55907&start=280#p1997605 http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=55907&start=280#p... or http://imageshack.us/a/img32/4845/spiritisnothing.png http://imageshack.us/a/img32/4845/spiritisnothing.png
- andrewflnr 13y ago
  Feels like for any phenomenon in life you can find one, even if the link is occasionally tenuous.

Strom 13y ago

Yeah, but none of those announcements have come from NASA. In fact, one of the recent solar system exit announcements triggered NASA to publish a press release [1] to let everyone know that Voyager 1 has, in fact, NOT left the solar system and all these announcements are wild speculation by people who don't directly work on the Voyager 1 team. [1] http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/voyager20130320.html http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/voyager20130320.ht...

snorkel 13y ago

That's what's so baffling about it: our solar system is Hotel California.

swamp40 13y ago

My understanding is that as soon as the magnetic field shifts, Voyager will be declared to have "left the solar system". The solar wind has died down, the cosmic rays have increased (although they are unexpectedly coming from a single direction), and the magnetic field shift will be the third and final necessary event. And they expect it soon (could be months or years).

hnriot 13y ago
"unexpectedly" - those that know the Mothership is waiting aren't in the slightest but surprised by this.
quantumpotato_ 13y ago
What theories are out there as to the single-direction?
- datalus 13y ago
  "To all intents, cosmic rays arrive evenly from all directions in the sky, but this does not necessarily mean their sources are evenly spread around us. More likely, they are constantly deflected and scattered by magnetic fields in the galaxy, until any trace of their original motion is lost."[0] A crude hypothesis would be that there's some sort of magnetic field that is directing them from a single location. Since we've never been this far before, its a pretty huge guess... [0]: http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wcosray.html http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wcosray.html

Achshar 13y ago

We don't know the edge yet. we are discovering it. It's a frontier. So how do you cross something that you don't even know the size of. All the announcements are of different definitions of the edge. There are many edges.