The Voyager 2 spacecraft has almost left the solar system behind

The Voyager 2 spacecraft has almost left the solar system behind: https://t.co/v2txl4kL0X pic.twitter.com/nIrQx9UGM1

— Discover Magazine (@DiscoverMag) October 9, 2018

 NASA’s Voyager 2 probe may be close to joining its sibling and entering interstellar space. The vessel has been detecting a five percent increase in cosmic rays since late August, suggesting that it’s close to crossing the heliopause (the edge of the solar wind bubble, aka the heliosphere) and entering the interstellar realm. Voyager 1 saw similar increases in May 2012, so its fellow spacecraft may be in for a repeat.

The mission team warned that Voyager 2 is both in a different location and on a different trajectory, so it won’t necessarily exit on a similar time frame. The boundaries of the heliosphere itself change over the course of the Sun’s 11-year cycle, for that matter. While something unusual is clearly afoot, it could take months longer to kiss the Sun goodbye.

Read more:

http://en.protothema.gr/voyager-2-probe-may-be-on-the-edge-of-interstellar-space/