Left the solar system! A year ago… [Hasty Science]

[skakos]

Do you remember cheers about Voyager leaving the solar system area at last?
It was in September. A landmark day for human kind.

What most people did not know at the time, was that the spacecraft had actually left the solar system A YEAR AGO!
The announcement was made so much later because of the peer review process which took so long!

http://blog.physicsworld.com/2013/09/13 ... -remember/

This is an excellent example of how proper science should work!
Staying unpublished until you totally verify your conclusions is the way to go.

HOWEVER what we see is the OPPOSITE: Scientists are so eager to publish that they often publish hastily and without proper verification. How many times have we not see contradictory research "findings"? You see the need for research funding is what drives everything, not the love for science. Fortunatelly Voyager was beyond all that...

[Tusok]

Peer review was not the only element delaying the announcement.

The research team could not be entirely sure V1 had left the system because the readings were not consistent within themselves, and they were not consistent with current theory. It took them a year of work to test alternative measurements and theories before they felt comfortable enough to make a declaration.

I totally agree with the thrust of your post; a good explorer of knowledge should take their time, lock down their definitions and measurements, and not go about making declarative statements until they are absolutely sure they can back them up!

[jackles]

How far aways that then in terms of light.

[Tusok]

Voyager is about 18 light hours from the sun. Since we are only 8 light minutes from the same sun, 18 hours is a pretty good estimate as to how far it is from us.

http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/where/

Here's the url for tracking its progress.

[jackles]

thanks thats a hell of a distance for a man made object.

[skakos]

Travelling in such speed as the speed of light does change one's perception of distances...
I remember having read that each photon lives for billions of years, which for it (travelling at the speed of light) seem to be just... 3 years!