Keeping Track of the Voyagers

[Klitwo]

One of my fun things to do on a somewhat semi-regular basis (once every few days) is to keep track of Voyagers 1 and 2 as they venture after 40 plus years further and further into deep space.  Just in case there are others who might be interested in checking on both of the Voyagers too...then the following NASA JPL website should be of interest to you.....>

https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/

Klitwo

 

[Klitwo]

Here are some details about both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.....>

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_2

Klitwo

[saac]

On 22/01/2019 at 07:52, Klitwo said:

One of my fun things to do on a somewhat semi-regular basis (once every few days) is to keep track of Voyagers 1 and 2 as they venture after 40 plus years further and further into deep space.  Just in case there are others who might be interested in checking on both of the Voyagers too...then the following NASA JPL website should be of interest to you.....>

https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/

Klitwo

 

Klitwo I use that site in the classroom quite regularly. It's fascinating watching those meters increment upward. We work out the speed of Voyager and then consider if we could travel at the same speed how short our morning commute to school would be. I think we once worked out that we could leave the house at 0849:59s to  be in (with time to spare) for the bell at 0850! Assuming there was of course no traffic on the Forth road bridge    It really is a cool site. 

Jim 

[Klitwo]

1 hour ago, saac said:

Klitwo I use that site in the classroom quite regularly. It's fascinating watching those meters increment upward. We work out the speed of Voyager and then consider if we could travel at the same speed how short our morning commute to school would be. I think we once worked out that we could leave the house at 0849:59s to  be in (with time to spare) for the bell at 0850! Assuming there was of course no traffic on the Forth road bridge    It really is a cool site. 

Jim 

Yeah...that's one of the reasons why I enjoy checking the Voyagers progress as they venture deep and deeper into the cosmos...watching thier mileage counters "clicking off" the miles second by second while cruising at approximatly 38,000 mph.  Certainly makes for a great math exercise for your students I'm sure.....

Another interesting mystery for me is trying to understand the physics of how this strange (asteroid or alien?) object "Oumuamua" that entered our solar system last year and is now heading back out again ended up moving through our solar system so fast (with a speed boost too)....approx. 196,000 mph.  That's pretty fast...even for an asteroid...if it is an asteroid that is.

Klitwo

[saac]

Klitwo I'm sitting here in North East Scotland on a freezing cold February night and wondering what your weather is like where you are. Now if my calculations are right if I could travel like Voyager I could be in Northern Marianas Island in about 11 minutes !! I think  an airline flight would take around 12 hours!  It really helps put the speed of Voyager into perspective.   Maybe one day we will think nothing of travelling around the Earth in minutes rather than hours.

Jim 

[Klitwo]

2 hours ago, saac said:

Klitwo I'm sitting here in North East Scotland on a freezing cold February night and wondering what your weather is like where you are. Now if my calculations are right if I could travel like Voyager I could be in Northern Marianas Island in about 11 minutes !! I think  an airline flight would take around 12 hours!  It really helps put the speed of Voyager into perspective.   Maybe one day we will think nothing of travelling around the Earth in minutes rather than hours.

Jim 

To answer your question....I live on the island of Saipan surrounded by the deep blue ocean here in the Northern Marianas Islands with 80 - 85 deg. tropical temperatures all year round with generally clear blue skies everyday and very dark night skies for observing.  Milky Way is a fantastic sight here on Saipan.  I also live on Guam too a couple months out of the year, 129 miles South.  When I travel...I always have to fly to Guam first, change flights....then fly to Honolulu, Hawaii, change flights again and then head to the mainland USA .  It usually averages a total flight time of about 13 plus hours just to get to Los Angeles which is about 6,000 miles from Saipan.  I attached a photo of Saipan...all 12 miles x 6 miles of it....>

Klitwo

[ro88ieuk]

Ditto...and I thought I was the only one!!..?

[mert]

Thanks for sharing.

They might be still travelling through space when the earth and sun are long gone.