New Signs Voyager Is Nearing Interstellar Space 168
sighted writes "Yesterday, someone tweeting for the Voyager 2 spacecraft posted: 'Interesting. Compare my data 4 high-energy nucleons w V1's That increase is attracting attention!' Today, NASA says that scientists looking at this rapid rise draw closer to an inevitable but historic conclusion — that humanity's first emissary to interstellar space is on the edge of our solar system. Project scientist Ed Stone said, 'The latest data indicate that we are clearly in a new region where things are changing more quickly. It is very exciting. We are approaching the solar system's frontier.'"
Re:December 21, 2012 (Score:5, Insightful)
I really hope you mean that as a joke. I really, really do.
Firstly, the mayan calander thing has been quashed so intensly it isn't even really worth reacting to.
Secondly, for aliens to even see something as fucking tiny as the voyager spacecraft, they would have to already be here. Even then they might not find it. Compare: voyager spacecraft VS Sol, our sun. You can fit many millions of earths inside our sun. You can fit billions of voyager spaceprobes in a single earth. The sun is tiny compared to the heliosheath it creates against the interstellar medium. Aliens with a telescope would not be able to see the voyager spacecraft. You can't even see it from earth! You can only find it with reaaaaaly sensitive radio telescopes.
No. Aliens won't be visiting earth any time soon unless they are already here. If they were already here, the probe leaving the heliosheath wouldn't mean a damned thing.
No. This is news, because for the first time ever, we have an instrument heading into the interstellar medium, sending us actual data. Up until now, it has all been deduction and theory. Now we are getting data. That is worth celebrating.
Leave the aliens alone.
Re:hello? (Score:4, Insightful)
if that's the case, wouldn't we cease to pick V1 up when it gets there?
Re:And then ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Translation please? (Score:5, Insightful)
i dont know much more than you, but from what read, its a measure of cosmic rays and it starting to increase fast... so it looks that there is less resistance for then to travel. That can be explained as a lower particles density around and so that Voyager is entering a bigger void (/dev/null even more empty if you prefer) :)
The rapid increase indicates a "frontier" as opposite to a very smooth increase, that would indicate a slow fade and harder to detect solar system limits.
Someone with more knowledge can correct be if i miss by a large margin :)
Re:December 21, 2012 (Score:4, Insightful)
Nonsense, we'll just print the money after it's been magically created by a central bank. I'm sure any rational alien would believe that has value. Don't you?