Voyager 1 Enters 'Cosmic Purgatory' at Solar System's Edge

摘要

After more than 30 years of traveling through the cosmos, NASA's far-flung Voyager 1 spacecraft has entered an uncharted region between our solar system and interstellar space, scientists announced Dec. 5. Voyager 1 is about 18 billion kilometers away from the sun, and data collected from the steadfast probe indicate that it has crossed into new territory that scientists are calling the "stagnation region." In this expanse, the flow of solar wind, which consists of charged particles that stream from the sun, has calmed down, the solar system's magnetic field appears to be compressed, and high-energy particles from inside the solar system seem to be leak-ing out into-interstellar space. This transition zone is thought to be like a "cosmic purgatory," the astronomers said.