Achieving Voyager Solar System Outer Limits |
Spacecraft Voyager 1, launched in 1977 to explore the planets that exist beyond the asteroid belt, like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, has now passed a new area on its way out of the Solar System.
It is revealed from two changes in environmental conditions are very different space and interconnected, which is detected by the vehicle at a location that is more than 18 billion miles from Earth on August 25, 2012.
Voyager 1 satellite captures a drastic change in the levels of radiation, where the radiation comes from the environment in the solar system and the other came from interstellar space.
Bill Webber, astronomer at New Mexico State University in Mexico, said that the heliosphere, Voyager 1 detects particles that exist in the solar system decreased less than 1 percent of the previously detected. While interstellar space radiation increased almost two-fold.
However, researchers have stated that Voyager 1 was already in interstellar space, a space in space are no longer influenced by the effects of the sun.
Edward Stone, a researcher involved in the Voyager project, said, still needed additional evidence indicating Voyager has left the solar system.
"Changes in the magnetic field direction is an important indicator to indicate that the last Voyager 1 has reached interstellar space. Until now it has not been observed change in direction, "he explained.
Researchers suspect that Voyager 1 is now likely to be in the border area between the heliosphere and interstellar space that has never been known before.
"This vehicle is outside the heliosphere," said Webber, who told Reuters on Wednesday (20/03/2013). "Everything that we measure is different and interesting," he added.
In December, Voyager has reached an area called the magnetic highway, where the magnetic field from the Sun's magnetic field is connected with another of interstellar space.
"We believe that this is the last step of our journey toward interstellar space. This is expected in a few months or a few years into the future, "said Stone.
