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Voyager 1 Encounters New Region in Deep Space

science:

Voyager 1 is the man-made object farthest from the Sun, steadily traveling towards the edge of the solar system and beyond. A recent paper analyzing data from the probe, which is still sending data back to Earth, states that as of August, 2012, the probe has entered a new region of space which they dub the “magnetic highway.” Radiation levels from inside the solar system dropped to 1 percent of previous levels while radiation from outside the solar system increased dramatically in a matter of days, leading some to propose that Voyager 1 has finally—and as the first man-made object ever—left the solar system for good. NASA, however, was quick to clarify that they do not consider the probe to have entered interstellar space quite yet, as they expect magnetic field lines to change direction when this occurs. The boundary of the solar system is kind of fuzzy, but one thing is clear: this little piece of metal humanity sent out 35 years ago is really, really far away and traveling in unexplored territory. Here be dragons cosmic rays aplenty.