Voyager 1 Reaches ‘Solar Bubble’ at the Edge of our Solar System

According to a press release from NASA, one of the agency’s oldest space probes, Voyager 1, is still collecting and transmitting data as it explores an area at the very edge of our solar system, referred to as the ‘Solar Bubble’. Currently at a distance of more than 11 billion miles (18 billion kilometers) from the sun, Voyager 1 is on the edge of becoming the first human-made object to reach interstellar space.

Recently data published in the journal Science is shedding new light on this final region of our solar system. Known as the heliosphere, this region is sometimes called the ‘solar bubble’ as it is the final region of space influenced by our sun, and the final gateway to interstellar space.

In the press release, NASA indicates that the three papers released “describe how Voyager 1’s entry into a region called the magnetic highway resulted in simultaneous observations of the highest rate so far of charged particles from outside heliosphere and the disappearance of charged particles from inside the heliosphere.”

Scientists have seen two of the three signs of interstellar arrival they expected to see: charged particles disappearing as they zoom out along the solar magnetic field, and cosmic rays from far outside zooming in. Scientists have not yet seen the third sign, an abrupt change in the direction of the magnetic field, which would indicate the presence of the interstellar magnetic field.”

“This strange, last region before interstellar space is coming into focus, thanks to Voyager 1, humankind’s most distant scout,” said Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. “If you looked at the cosmic ray and energetic particle data in isolation, you might think Voyager had reached interstellar space, but the team feels Voyager 1 has not yet gotten there because we are still within the domain of the sun’s magnetic field.”

Launched in 1977, along with its twin Voyager 2, Voyager 1 has led a spectacular tour of the outer giants of our solar system including the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. In 1990, the spacecraft was directed to carry on with its exploration, beyond our planets and on into what is beyond.

For more information about the Voyager spacecraft mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/voyager and http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov .