Since Voyager 1 and 2 are moving deeper into interstellar space, the Hubble Space Telescope monitors its robotic buddies.
Just like sherpas help a mountaineer to climb Everest, Hubble looks after the twin spacecraft from afar.
The NASA Voyager program consists of two vehicles launched in 1977. And both probes continue to transmit data to Earth. Although their power is running out (powered by decaying plutonium fuel) and many of the tools have already been turned off, they managed to go the farthest. (Pioneer 10 and 11 also moved far away, but they do not work).
Both Voyager spacecraft traveled a long distance, leaving behind the region of influence of the Sun (heliosphere). These pioneers are free from the magnetic boundary of the Solar System and power. Now they have reached that area of space, the influence of which we have never experienced.
When two probes are immersed in the mysterious zone, we use a powerful telescope to scan the environment around them and look at what lies ahead.
“This is a great opportunity to compare the data obtained by the spacecraft on-site and information from Hubble,” says Seth Redfield from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. “Voyagers inspect tiny patches at 38,000 miles per hour.” But we have no clue as to whether the typical sites for the area or is it something unusual. Hubble’s observations expand the view because the telescope sees farther. ”
The positions of Voyager 1 and 2 and the location of the stars used by Hubble to carry out spectral analysis of the interstellar medium lying ahead of the probes. .
In the results presented this week at the 229th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAO) by Redfield and his team, Hubble showed something new. It turns out that the space between the stars is not empty, but is a “interstellar ecology” complex, demonstrating hydrogen clouds enriched with other elements. And we have as many as two vehicles (albeit with limited power) that transmit information from the “scene”, and Hubble, which illuminates the path for the probes. He has the opportunity to show us that waiting for the vehicles ahead even after they finish their service for humanity.
“By combining all the data, we get an unprecedented view of the local interstellar medium,” said Hubble team member Julia Zachary.
After flying around the solar system, the vehicles went to a distant point. Voyager 1 is now 13 billion miles from Earth. This is an incredible distance, considering that he manages to receive radio signals from our planet, having traveled a distance of 38 light hours (for comparison, the Moon is 1.3 light seconds away). For 1.6 light years, Voyager 1 will pass by the nearby star Gliese 445. Voyager 2 moves in a different direction, at a distance of 10.5 billion miles from Earth (more than 31 light hours of drive) and will pass within 1.7 light years from the star Ross 248.
Before we lose contact, the probes will produce a direct scan of the magnetic medium and interstellar gases, including energy particles (cosmic rays). Such measurements can not be done inside the heliosphere, filled with particles of the solar wind and magnetism. As they work, Hubble will scan the future trajectory of Voyager with a spectrograph to see how starlight is absorbed by gases. From this we get astronomical measurements of the material in which ships travel. The telescope has already noticed the “lumps” of interstellar gases surrounding the solar heliosphere. And such a measurement will show how our star moves through space, as well as how other stars interact with their surroundings.
“I am truly intrigued by future discoveries,” Redfield added. “This kind of interaction occurs around most stars, and is a dynamic process.”
The vehicles completed their primary missions a few decades ago, and yet continue to make amazing discoveries in the 40th year in space. But, given the fact that we only touched the line for such a huge period of time, we can say in what far corner of the galaxy we are. And in order to visit the nearest star (more than 4 light-years to Proxima Centauri), we need to make a serious breakthrough in the field of propulsion technology.
