Cosmic backyard

 

Copilot´s fantasy version of Voyager 1 passing Sedna

I´m sure you heard that Voyager 1 has left the Solar System, und so weiter. It turns out that this is FAKE NEWS. In reality, the unmanned probe is still firmly stuck in our cosmic backyard. Here are some quotes from all-knowing Wikipedia: 

>>>While Voyager 1 is commonly spoken of as having left the Solar System simultaneously with having left the heliosphere, the two are not the same. The Solar System is usually defined as the vastly larger region of space populated by bodies that orbit the Sun. The craft is presently less than one-seventh the distance to the aphelion of Sedna, and it has not yet entered the Oort cloud, the source region of long-period comets, regarded by astronomers as the outermost zone of the Solar System.

Only one-seventh the distance to Sedna´s aphelion? Ahem. But wait! There is some hope after all: 

>>>Voyager 1 is expected to reach the theorized Oort cloud in about 300 years and take about 30,000 years to pass through it. Though it is not heading towards any particular star, in about 40,000 years, it will pass within 1.6 light-years (0.49 parsecs) of the star Gliese 445, which is at present in the constellation Camelopardalis and 17.1 light-years from Earth. That star is generally moving towards the Solar System at about 119 km/s (430,000 km/h; 270,000 mph). NASA says that "The Voyagers are destined—perhaps eternally—to wander the Milky Way." In 300,000 years, it will pass within less than 1 light year of the M3V star TYC 3135–52–1.

Or maybe not, since Voyager 1´s instruments will stop functioning already in 2036. Or at least, that´s when the Deep Space Network will lose all contact with the probe.

So we´re stuck here on planet Earth. Can hardly even reach damn little Sedna. Hope the Hindoos are right about Atman being Brahman and all...

Voyager 1

Sedna

Swedish sculpture of Sedna