Five things we’ve learned since Voyager 2 left the solar system (Sun, spacecraft)

[JD59]

About 41 years after launch, the NASA spacecraft joined its twin in leaving the last edges of the solar system’s borders.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/6...-solar-system/

[Milky Way Resident]

Not bad, but I was hoping the article would mention the Neptune close encounter.

[2x3x29x41]

Originally Posted by Milky Way Resident

Not bad, but I was hoping the article would mention the Neptune close encounter.

Why?

The article - as indicated by the headline - is very specifically about information from Voyager 2 after it left the heliosphere, a threshold about 4x as far from the Sun as Neptune. In other words, with Voyager 2 outside of the heliosphere (again, the subject of this article) we are far closer to Neptune than this particular spacecraft.

[Milky Way Resident]

Originally Posted by 2x3x29x41

Why?

The article - as indicated by the headline - is very specifically about information from Voyager 2 after it left the heliosphere, a threshold about 4x as far from the Sun as Neptune. In other words, with Voyager 2 outside of the heliosphere (again, the subject of this article) we are far closer to Neptune than this particular spacecraft.

Fair enough. I missed that.

[Aredhel]

That's an interesting article. I didn't know the Voyager spacecrafts had generated so much new knowledge about interstellar space and the heliopause. Thanks for posting the link!