# Where are the two Voyagers headed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 12, 2018, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-two-voyagers-headed/825985 "2018-12-12T06:35:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-two-voyagers-headed/825985/21 "2018-12-14T01:33:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Even once you get out to the vicinity of the gas giant planets, it’s tough to get a usable amount of power from solar panels (hence, of course, why they had the nuclear power sources to begin with). And they’ll probably never get that close to any other star, ever again. It’s tough but possible - [Juno](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juno_(spacecraft)), currently in orbit around Jupiter, is solar powered. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-two-voyagers-headed/825985/22 "2018-12-14T05:12:19Z")
Note that Juno has special high efficiency triple-junction solar cells. They have a 28% efficiency, which is much better than what you can buy on the market. And the panels are roughly the cross section of a school bus in size. So it’s pushing the limit for solar powered spacecraft. Until we get even better solar cell technology, that is. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-two-voyagers-headed/825985/23 "2018-12-14T15:20:17Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Is it really fair to say they’ve left the solar system if they haven’t passed the Oort Cloud? Although not true in the strictest sense – there is very weak gravitational binding of the Sun and the Oort cloud – I view the local neighborhood as a bowl of meatball soup with the star systems as the meatballs and the Oort cloud as the soup. Of course, it’s mighty poor soup, isolated meatballs suspended in a weak broth. > [@XT](#): > > I don’t recall a lot of my ancient Greek astronomy, but I think it’s on par wrt distance to where the crystal spheres holding the fixed stars resides. 😉 I just wanna say I love the post/sig combination on this one. ---
**Author:** ![Kiber](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiber/32/317_2.png) [@Kiber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiber)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-two-voyagers-headed/825985/24 "2018-12-14T15:56:18Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > As always, [there’s an xkcd for that](https://xkcd.com/1189/). The mouseover text reads:Which is to say that there is a lot of room for interpretation on the point of where the “solar system” ends. I don’t have anything to add - except thanks for introducing me to the term “trans-neptunian panic zone”. I don’t know why - but I feel that I’m better for knowing that. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2021, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-two-voyagers-headed/825985/25 "2021-05-11T18:38:25Z")
Bumped. Voyager 1 has detected that the deep space hums. > **[Voyager 1 spacecraft detects deep-space 'hum'](https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/voyager-1-spacecraft-detects-deep-space-hum-1.5422246)** > > NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft, launched 44 years ago has detected a 'hum' in interstellar space I hope they call it the _Glen Gould Effect_. > **[Glenn Gould | Eccentricities](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Gould#Eccentricities)** > > Gould was widely known for his unusual habits. He often hummed or sang while he played, and his audio engineers were not always able to exclude his voice from recordings. Gould claimed that his singing was unconscious and increased in proportion to his inability to produce his intended interpretation on a given piano. It is likely that the habit originated in his having been taught by his mother to "sing everything that he played", as his biographer Kevin Bazzana wrote. This became "an unbreakabl... ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-two-voyagers-headed/825985/26 "2021-05-11T19:23:56Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Voyager 1 has detected that the deep space hums. Ground lead came loose from the turntable sent along to play the golden record… ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2021, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-two-voyagers-headed/825985/27 "2021-05-11T19:57:10Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > Ground lead came loose from the turntable sent along to play the golden record… My first thought too. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2021, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-two-voyagers-headed/825985/28 "2021-05-12T03:56:31Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Voyager 1 has detected that the deep space hums. Originating in Taos, New Mexico. Who’da thunk Voyager would hear it all the way out there. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-two-voyagers-headed/825985/29 "2022-05-19T14:00:03Z")
Bumped. The latest Voyager news: > **[Mystery issue experienced on NASA's Voyager 1 probe from 1977 | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/18/world/nasa-voyager-1-issue-scn/index.html)** > > After launching 45 years ago, Voyager 1 probe is still exploring interstellar space -- but it's encountered an issue that's confused the spacecraft's team on Earth. While the spacecraft is operating normally, it has presented an anomaly NASA is... ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-two-voyagers-headed/825985/30 "2022-05-19T17:41:46Z")
Maybe Voyager 1 entered a region of space where the laws of physics are different. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-two-voyagers-headed/825985.md?page=1)