How Big Is Our Solar System?

It was confirmed last week that Voyager 1 became the first man made spacecraft to enter interstellar space! Does this mean it left our solar system? Ian O'Neill joins DNews to discuss what interstellar space is, and how big our solar system really is!


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Interstellar Song: Solar Tsunami Hits Voyager 1
"NASA's veteran Voyager 1 spacecraft has been hit by a 'tsunami' from the sun as the mission pushes deeper into interstellar space."

Voyager encountering interstellar space

Animation of the Heliosphere

Trajectories of Deep Space Probes

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[ShawnRavenfire]

I like when Ian hosts, because I actually learn things.

[PeaceInAfrica]

Thumbs down for using an irrelevant imperial legacy system of measurement, please stick to metric like real science.

[loyseugene]

really puts the whole sci-fi jumping from one galaxy to another in a jiffy into perspective when even at ten miles per second we can't leave our own star in under a thousand years not to mention leave our galaxy and explore others. we need worm holes and we need them now. 

[TheLostHistoryChannelTKTC]

Excellent video, very very good and i hope it does well, this is perfect for anyone wanting to learn a few basic things about space.. :),  

[InMaTeofDeath]

Who's throwing down with me that as soon as we lose contact with the Voyager we will instantly have conspiracy nuts saying aliens did it?

[TheyCallMeNewb]

Any & all footage of voyager before lift-off and naturally, everything received from the little probe since, gives me chills. We're really quite a species.

[Neptune]

Thank you for making that known. It frustrates me when the news media talks about Voyager-1 leaving the Solar System. It would take another 30-k years to reach the inner edge of the Oort Clould.. 300-k to completely clear it.

[stiimuli]

Didn't Dnews already cover this subject a couple months back? O_o

[fatcatco]

So is it close to the Mass Relay then?

[kenrhea]

So... big... I love this stuff. Its so hard to picture that magnitude for my tiny human brain :)

[sellbythebell]

We seem to be geared toward travelling the x & y-axis of the solar system. Basically planet hopping. What happens if we were to travel on the z-axis? It would seem like we are heading straight for nothingness, but wouldn't we be able to eventually see our solar system for what it is versus travelling on the same plane as the solar system? Is there a stronger force that keeps us from breaking that axis?

[rrcczz]

I tune this guy out and just look at the pictures and come up with my own story

[GreatGreenWolf]

Makes it even more obvious to see why we're not getting visitors anytime soon, unless if course we find some ancient technology:/

[furkanalperen]

Its definitely way bigger than Uranus.

[supercakefish]

Well one part of me is in awe at just how big the solar system is and the other half is sad that Voyager won't leave the solar system within my lifetime.

[TheJaredtheJaredlong]

So it's left the Helio-sphere, but the there's still objects beyond the helio-sphere that are directly affected by the suns gravity, so while the suns energy no longer reaches Voyager, it is still within the area of space affected by the suns gravity? Is that what he's saying?

[JesusPedroza]

A few thousand years before it technically leaves our solar system huh? Wow. 

[emmanuelperalta]

Wait! how the hell do they get good enough signal to send photos from millions upon millions of miles away between space to bases on Earth and yet alot of people cannot seem to get perfect connections via phones and internet here on Earth itself?! 0.o

[GarudaLegends]

+Clayton Carson oh so the unoffical name for then is Sol. It makes perfect sense. Thanks

[Hendlton]

Soooo Voyager one is never leaving the solar system, well that mission was pointless.