# Will the 2 Voyager spacecraft leave the Milky Way galaxy **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 14, 2019, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-2-voyager-spacecraft-leave-the-milky-way-galaxy/840214 "2019-09-14T14:17:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-2-voyager-spacecraft-leave-the-milky-way-galaxy/840214/21 "2019-09-16T09:32:46Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > What about the Milky Way’s [own velocity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way#Velocity)relative to external references? That’s 550 - 630 km/s. depending on frame of reference chosen. If you’re talking about leaving the galaxy, that velocity doesn’t count. Everything in the galaxy shares that velocity (more or less), so it can be ignored. The only velocity that counts is that which is relative to the center of the galaxy. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-2-voyager-spacecraft-leave-the-milky-way-galaxy/840214/22 "2019-09-16T09:55:16Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > If you’re talking about leaving the galaxy, that velocity doesn’t count. Everything in the galaxy shares that velocity (more or less), so it can be ignored. That was my point, re: the solar system velocity. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-2-voyager-spacecraft-leave-the-milky-way-galaxy/840214/23 "2019-09-16T10:35:52Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > That was my point, re: the solar system velocity. The solar system velocity _does_ count. It’s only shared by things in the solar system, not by anything else in the galaxy. Voyarger 1 is going roughly towards the Solar apex (the point on the sky the Sun is headed toward) so you can add its velocity to that of the solar system to get its net galactic velocity. (It’s not going exactly towards the Solar apex, but it’s close enough for a first approximation.) Voyager 2 is going in another direction, so the velocities can’t be simply added like that. It still shares the Solar velocity, though. ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-2-voyager-spacecraft-leave-the-milky-way-galaxy/840214/24 "2019-09-16T10:48:01Z")
How long before Voyager 1 gets shredded by cosmic rays into a mass of powder? In that state, would Voyager be able to hold itself together with self-gravity, giving the appearance of a solid craft? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-2-voyager-spacecraft-leave-the-milky-way-galaxy/840214/25 "2019-09-16T11:37:40Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > The solar system velocity _does_ count. It’s only shared by things in the solar system, not by anything else in the galaxy. Voyarger 1 is going roughly towards the Solar apex (the point on the sky the Sun is headed toward) so you can add its velocity to that of the solar system to get its net galactic velocity. (It’s not going exactly towards the Solar apex, but it’s close enough for a first approximation.) Voyager 2 is going in another direction, so the velocities can’t be simply added like that. It still shares the Solar velocity, though. Mm, my misunderstanding, then. I feel like I need a vector diagram … ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-2-voyager-spacecraft-leave-the-milky-way-galaxy/840214/26 "2019-09-17T02:56:52Z")
> [@barath\_s](#): > > [NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft is now interstellar. Where to next?](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/09/voyager-40-years-nasa-interstellar-space-science/) > > Talks about the fate of the Voyagers. > > In ~4 billion years, the Andromeda Galaxy will collide with the milky way; though most stars will not collide, some may be disrupted, torn from their orbits or ejected. > > It’s possible that the Voyagers may be affected by other bodies before that, or by the andromeda galaxy, but it’s hard to predict. > > In any case the Sun itself may swell up to a giant star before the Andromeda collision,and in any case will be moving between the different arms of the galaxy and oscillating above and below the plane. > > [http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/our-solar-system/55-our-solar-system/the-sun/the-sun-in-the-milky-way/207-how-often-does-the-sun-pass-through-a-spiral-arm-in-the-milky-way-intermediate](http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/our-solar-system/55-our-solar-system/the-sun/the-sun-in-the-milky-way/207-how-often-does-the-sun-pass-through-a-spiral-arm-in-the-milky-way-intermediate) > > [Which spiral arm of the Milky Way is ours?](https://earthsky.org/space/does-our-sun-reside-in-a-spiral-arm-of-the-milky-way-galaxy) > > For a pic. > > So the Voyagers may wind up orbiting the Galaxy far after the Sun dies Thank you for the links! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-2-voyager-spacecraft-leave-the-milky-way-galaxy/840214.md?page=1)