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Launched in 1977, NASA Voyager 2 is just under 17.7 billion kilometers from Earth, more than 118 times the distance from Earth to the Sun.
Currently on the way to interstellar space, NASA's Voyager 2 probe has detected an increase in cosmic rays coming from outside our solar system, NASA reported.
How NASA Voyager 2 will enter the interstellar space
The Voyager spacecraft, 1 and 2, were built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California – which continues to operate both.
Since 2007, the Voyager 2 probe travels the outermost layer of the heliosphere – the vast bubble around the Sun and the planets dominated by solar material and magnetic fields.
Voyager scientists are monitoring the passage of the probe into the outer limit of the heliosphere, the heliopause.
NASA posters made for the 40th anniversary of Voyager. (Image: NASA)
Once Voyager 2 has left the heliosphere, it will become the second human-made object, after Voyager 1, to penetrate into interstellar space.
The increase in cosmic rays detected by NASA Voyager 2
Cosmic rays are fast-moving particles that come from the solar system.
Since the end of August, the instrument of the Cosmic Ray subsystem on Voyager 2 has measured an increase of about 5% in the rate of cosmic rays reaching the spacecraft compared to early August.
The low energy charged particle instrument of the probe has detected a similar increase in high energy cosmic rays.
A book on the chronicles of NASA's attempts to send spacecraft "beyond the Earth". (Image: NASA)
Some of these cosmic rays are blocked by the heliosphere. Mission planners therefore expect Voyager 2 to measure the increase in cosmic rays at the approach and beyond the limits of the heliosphere.
When Voyager 1 experienced a similar increase
In May 2012, Voyager 1 experienced an increase in the cosmic ray rate similar to that detected by Voyager 2.
It was about three months before Voyager 1 passed through the heliopause and entered interstellar space.
We do not know when NASA Voyager 2 will reach the heliopause
However, members of Voyager's team note that increasing cosmic rays is not a definite sign that the probe is about to pass through the heliopause.
Voyager 2 is at a different location than Voyager 1 in the heliosheath – the outer region of the heliosphere – and the possible differences at these locations mean that Voyager 2 may experience a different output than Voyager's. 1.
Read also: Artificial intelligence for better spatial communication: 10 aspects of NASA's "cognitive radio"
The fact that Voyager 2 can approach heliopause six years after Voyager 1 is also relevant, as the heliopause moves inwards and outwards during the cycle. 11 years of activity of the Sun.
Solar activity refers to Sun's emissions, including solar flares and material eruptions called coronal mass ejections.
Voyager 2 in the launcher. (Image: NASA)
During the eleven-year solar cycle, the sun reaches a maximum and minimum level of activity.
"We are seeing a change in the environment around Voyager 2, no question., "said Ed Stone, a Voyager researcher based in Caltech, Pasadena.
"We will learn a lot in the months to come, but we still do not know when we will hit the heliopause. We are not there yet – it's something I can say with confidence," he added.
Read also: In memory of Kalpana Chawla, first Indian woman born in space,
Read also: Juno completes a year in orbit at Jupiter: this is what NASA has found up to now
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