2007-11-07 00:21:45 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Depends what you mean by "leaving the solar system".
The 'heliopause' is often used as the end of the solar system. It is where the solar wind (stream of charged particles emitted by the Sun) runs into the intersellar matter (very tenuous dust and gas). It is like a bow wave (but in 3-dimensions, it is more like a shock wave).
If that is what you use, then Voyager 1 is on the verge of doing it. It did show sign of reaching the inner face of the heliopause (it is not a fixed distance: it changes with the varying density of the interstellar matter, the strength of the Sun's magnetic field and the mean energy in the stream of charged particles).
It will take a long time to cross it (Voyager I should be at the 'crest' of the shock wave by 2015).
However, if you use 'half the distance to the nearest star', then we still have a long way to go.
2007-11-07 00:45:25 · answer #1 · answered by Raymond 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Technically, not yet. There are currently 5 probes that are on courses to take them out of the solar system in time. They are Pioneer 10 and 11, Voyager 1 and 2, and most recently, New Horizons. You can go here to see where they are right now:
http://www.heavens-above.com/solar-escape.asp
2007-11-07 02:14:49 · answer #2 · answered by cyswxman 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Precisely and specifically:
Has any man made object ever left our solar system beyond the orbit of Pluto?
Yes.
2007-11-07 10:13:15 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not quite. The voyager probes are both still just inside the solar system and under the influence of the sun.
They are on their way out though.
2007-11-07 01:05:21 · answer #4 · answered by futuretopgun101 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gooner's answer is close, but he failed to notice the age of the article he cited. It states that in "a couple of years", Voyager might pass outside of the Sun's sphere of influence.
The article was written in 2003, however, so it is entirely possible that the first Voyager probe has left the solar system, (or is about to...).
2007-11-07 00:33:39 · answer #5 · answered by chocolahoma 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Four have. Pioneer 10 & 11, and Voyager 1 & 2. We've sent them off in different directions also.
2007-11-07 03:16:58 · answer #6 · answered by quantumclaustrophobe 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
no not yet, Voyager 1 is the furthest away but is still within the region dominated by the Sun and its solar wind and is still considered to be within the solar system.
2007-11-07 00:26:06 · answer #7 · answered by goonerwin1 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
I believe one of the Pioneer spacecraft (10 or 11) has passed through the heliopause, which is considered the very edge of our solar system.
2007-11-07 00:25:51 · answer #8 · answered by Nature Boy 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
yes ..Voyager 1 1977
Voyager 1, which is traveling at a speed of 17 kilometers per second (38,000 miles per hour) is now exactly 90 astronomical units from the sun. (One astronomical unit equals the distance between the Earth and the sun.)
Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to visit Uranus and Neptune.
2007-11-07 00:25:30 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
None yet.
But Voyager1 is due to leave the solar system sometime soon. (not too sure exactly when though)
2007-11-07 00:30:49 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋