Voyager 1 gets a taste of interstellar space
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NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft exploring a new region in our solar system called the "magnetic highway" (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Artist's concept shows NASA's two Voyager spacecraft exploring a turbulent region of space known as the heliosheath (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Artist's concept showing how NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is bathed in solar wind from the southern hemisphere flowing northward (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Artist's concept shows plasma flows around NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft as it approaches interstellar space (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/JHUAPL)
NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft and the location of its low-energy charged particle instrument (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/JHUAPL)
Measurements of different populations of charged particles by Voyager 1's low-energy charged particle instrument (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/JHUAPL)
Artist's concept shows the different expected directions of the magnetic fields in interstellar space (black lines) and the magnetic field emanating from our sun (white lines) (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Data obtained by NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft, tracks the behavior of the sun's magnetic field (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC/University of Delaware)
Graphic showing how the direction of the magnetic field in the region NASA's Voyager 1 is exploring has not changed, even though the intensity of the magnetic field has increased (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC/University of Delaware)
Article Summary
Voyager 1 has reached yet another new frontier on its historic journey towards the edge of our solar system. NASA scientists believe this “magnetic highway” represents the final region the spacecraft must cross before becoming the first man-made object to reach interstellar space, an event they are guessing could be as close as a couple of months away.
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