Traveller Must Battle Termination Shock (NASA, Voyager-1)

IOL ^ | 1-7-2004 | NASA/Goddard Space Flt Center

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

Ah yes, but don't forget that it WON'T keep up the current speed - the sun's gravity, still tugging at it, is slowing it down a little bit each day.

So by rough estimate, I'd say double all your average-speed estimates: 150,000 years, give or take.

I don't think your estimate is correct. When you are half way to Proxima Centauri, assuming it's mass is close to the sun's, you will begin to accelerate towards PC. Don't forget that Centuri is a cluster of three stars and at these distances will look like a single point from the standpoint of Voyager. I agree however, that calculated transit times are largely speculative. We can only have confidence in the order of magnitude (I.e.: somewhere around 10^5 years & certainly not 52)

Regards,
GtG

[Physicist]

Actually, it's the second nearest.

That reminds me of a question (answer, rather) I saw on Jeopardy one time. "This planet is often visible in the daytime". The contestant's reply, "What is Venus?" was accepted, but I really wondered what the judges would have done with "What is Earth?"

[RightWingAtheist]

In one of his very last columns, Isaac Asimov told the story of how some kid asked what the nearest star is, and how close it is. Asimov simply answered Proxima Centuri, and gave the exact distance, and then the kid told he thought the Sun was the closest star. Asimov's exact words in his column, if I remember correctly, was "he was so lucky I didn't have gun, otherwise I would have shot him right there and then, that miserable, snot-nosed kid!"

Attaboy Isaac. You may have been a liberal, but we loved you, and that's one reason why :)

[Slicksadick]

[blam]

VEGER!

There it is.

[RadioAstronomer]

Thanks for the ping. :-)

[farmfriend]

Bump for later read.

[Kevin Curry]

At more than 13 billion kilometres from the sun, Voyager 1 is the most distant object built by humanity.

FWIW, more than twice the distance (from the Sun) to Pluto.

[DuncanWaring]

How long will they dance?

Until they stop.