Astrophysicist Claims Voyager 1 Would Be Visible in Deep Space Despite Being Close to 15 Billion Miles From the Sun

Speaking with Business Insider, he explained that if we flew beside the Voyager 1 craft, there would surprisingly be enough light to observe the craft. The scientist shared his opinion following a considerable debate on Reddit, shedding light on a question that many failed to answer. 

Advancements such as the release of the James Webb Space Telescope in 2021 have allowed researchers to peer further back in time than ever before. Meanwhile, headway in spacecraft capabilities has allowed us to send unmanned craft into the depths of space on reconnaissance missions.

Over the past five decades, the probe has ventured deep into our galaxy and is currently recognized as the farthest man-made object from our world. It continues to travel around 15 billion miles from the sun.

Speaking on the achievements of the Voyager 1 probe and its journey into deep space, Alan Cummings, a cosmic-ray physicist at Caltech, said, “These are the only spacecraft that has been there.”

Despite having an original mission time of only five years, the project continues to help NASA further its understanding of the universe, and its impact is felt to this day. 

One of the most fascinating is that the small craft has ventured beyond the magnetic pull of our sun and is currently around 15 billion miles away from the celestial body that warms our planet. 

Others are more interested in its distance from the sun and whether any light exists that far from our star. Could we even see the probe if we floated beside it, or would it be nothing but darkness?

While it’s a great question, as the Voyager is at such an unimaginable distance from the sun, many were quick to suggest there would be no light at all. However, this might not necessarily be the case.

Zemcov first acknowledged the fascinating question, stating, “Oh, gosh, that’s, so this is a really interesting question.” 

Researchers have suggested there are several reasons behind this, the most obvious being that there are many sources of photons, the particles that makeup rays of visible light. But would there be enough to visibly see the Voyager 1 craft?

According to Zemcov, you first take Voyager’s distance and compare it with the distance between the sun and Earth.

Despite the enormous distance that separates the Voyager craft and the sun, he emphasized that scientists still don’t know if there’s a limit to how far light can travel. 

“This leaves you with an estimate of about 25,000 times fainter than the brightness during the day on Earth. That’s still about 15 times brighter than the light Earth gets during a full moon on a clear night,” he said.

While this seems surreal to many, as remember the probe is currently close to 15 billion miles away from our sun and Earth, it is certainly plausible that the Voyager craft would be visible if you were floating beside it. 

“In that much light, you would definitely be able to see the side of the probe facing the sun in detail, though you might not be able to see all of its colors,” he said.

Zemcov explained the probe will continue to shine under the sun’s light for hundreds and, quite possibly, thousands of years. 

“The point is, in terms of that distance, like Voyager has hardly gotten anywhere,” said Zemcov, speaking on the vastness of our universe and its sheer size.

 It was initially directed towards Saturn and Jupiter and even flew by Neptune and Uranus, making it the only spacecraft to visit the ice giants.  

They continue to send home data as they journey through interstellar space, but certain problems have occurred over the years, putting the craft in jeopardy. Most recently, NASA researchers spent five months trying to re-establish communication with the probe. 

This kicked off what would become a five-long effort to solve the problem. Yet, troubleshooting problems on a craft that is 15 billion miles away isn’t exactly easy. However, the NASA engineers were able to solve the problem in the end. 

For those involved in NASA’s longest-running space mission, the call brought a huge sigh of relief, and joy spread throughout the office.

She continued, “We knew exactly what time it was going to happen, and it got really quiet and everybody just sat there and they’re looking at the screen.”

“There were cheers, people raising their hands,” she said. “And a sense of relief, too — that OK, after all this hard work and going from barely being able to have a signal coming from Voyager to being in communication again, that was a tremendous relief and a great feeling.”

While Spilker admits it will be a sad day when the mission ends, the Voyager craft will live on as “our silent ambassadors” and will be remembered as pioneers of interstellar space exploration.