Humanity s most distant space probe captures a strange sound
A new paper reveals that the Voyager 1 spacecraft detected a constant hum coming from outside our Solar System.
Voyager 1 in interstellar space. Credit: NASA / JPL - Caltech.
Voyager 1, humankind s most distant space probe, detected an unusual hum in the data from interstellar space.
The noise is likely produced by interstellar gas.
Further investigation may reveal the hum s exact origins.
Voyager 1, humanity s most faraway spacecraft, has detected an unusual hum coming from outside our solar system. Fourteen billion miles away from Earth, the Voyager s instruments picked up a droning sound that may be caused by plasma (ionized gas) in the vast emptiness of interstellar space. Launched in 1977, the Voyager 1 space probe along with its twin Voyager 2 has been traveling farther and farther into space for over 44 years. It has now breached the edge of our solar system, exiting the heliosphere, t