Journey Across the Solar System Through the Eyes of the Voyager Probes

football. Scientists don't know how to model it yet, but it might look like this ↓. Voyager 2 observations revealed more details about Uranus' known rings and discovered two more. It is the first to capture images of these dark rings, such as its outermost ring visible in this photo. The rings are composed of fine dust particles. Voyager 2 also discovered two shepherd moons orbiting one of the newly discovered rings, similar to its findings with Saturn in the F ring. Here they can be seen from 4 million kilometers, in a photograph from January 21, 1986. This mission increased significantly the known number of moons of Uranus.

Before Voyager 2, we only knew of five moons orbiting Uranus. Voyager 2 sent us the first pictures of these moons, which you'll see in a second, but it also discovered 11 more moons, bringing the total to 16 moons. Voyager's discovery provided valuable data on the size, composition and orbital characteristics of its new moons. Today, the number of known moons is 27. Well, back to the five OG moons of Uranus. They all appear to be conglomerates of ice and rock, similar to Saturn's moons. Oberon and Umbriel, photographed here on January 24, 1986, are riddled with impact craters. They appear to have little geological activity, judging by their old, dark surfaces.

Titania, which lies between those two, the fourth farthest from Uranus, is marked by massive fault

system

s and canyons that indicate some degree of geological (and probably tectonic) activity in its history. Ariel has the brightest and possibly youngest surface of all Uranus' moons. This photograph taken at just 129,000 kilometers suggests that Ariel experienced geological activity that led to many fault valleys and extensive flows of icy material at some point in its history. Miranda is the closest of the five to the planet, only second in proximity to Puck, the small rocky satellite discovered by Voyager in 1985, and which had the most surprising findings.

Voyager flew over Miranda on January 4, 1986, at a distance of only 30,000 kilometers. This small moon turned out to be a captivating puzzle of geological dynamism, shaped by a volatile history. Voyager 2 identified traces of internal melting and sporadic "upwellings" of frozen material, manifesting in extensive canyon-like faults that plunge to depths of up to 20 kilometers. The lunar canvas is further adorned with oval racetrack-shaped features etched like cosmic scratches. Voyager also saw "terraced" regions, where a mosaic of old and young, bright and dark, and abundantly lightly cratered terrain coexist. The chevron-shaped feature seen here suggests that Miranda's original surface was separated and the fragments forcibly re-added.

Three weeks later, on January 25, 1986, Voyager 2 left Uranus and took this wonderful farewell photo from 1 million kilometers away as it headed toward its final planetary target, Neptune. After three years of traveling at a speed of 54,000 kilometers per hour, Neptune finally came into view. Voyager 2 approached the farthest planet in our

solar

system

on August 25, 1989, just over 12 years since it took off from Earth. It produced the first close-up images we have received of the giant blue planet, passing just 5,000 kilometers above its north pole, the closest flyby. Hydrogen was found to be the most common element in Neptune's atmosphere, although the high abundance of methane is what gives the planet its blue appearance.

Voyager 2 measured extraordinary wind speeds in Neptune's atmosphere, with equatorial winds blowing at speeds reaching nearly 1,100 kilometers per hour. These remarkable speeds were yet another surprise and highlighted just how dynamic and fierce Neptune's weather systems are. Scientists also discovered a massive storm on Neptune, aptly named the Great Dark Spot. This turbulent storm was seen rotating counterclockwise, much like Jupiter's Great Red Spot, and exhibiting winds reaching up to 1,500 miles per hour, the strongest recorded in the

solar

system! A NASA analyst, Ken Bollinger, commented on the findings in 1989 saying: "Every day what you see is completely new, no one has ever seen it, it's just an incredible feeling.

There are changes constantly on Neptune that happen very, very fast". Voyager 2 also took images of Neptune's rings for the first time. Until 1986, scientists suspected that the planet might have rings, but they couldn't be sure. Interestingly, the spacecraft identified several partial ring structures (or ring arcs) within Neptune's ring system. These arches raised questions about the mechanisms responsible for their formation and stability, as they consisted mainly of incomplete, dusty rings. A trip to Neptune wouldn't be complete without a brief stop at its largest moon: Triton. Triton, the coldest known planetary body in the solar system, turned out to have a fractured surface, with erupting geysers and a layer of pink nitrogen ice over its south pole.

Scientists also identified dark plumes, which could indicate the possibility of ice volcanoes. Voyager 2 also discovered 6 new moons orbiting Neptune, including these: When Voyager 2 turned around to take one last look at Neptune and Triton, it had officially completed its "Grand Tour." Neptune's gravity diverted its trajectory downward out of the plane of the ecliptic. From here, it continued its

journey

into interstellar space, just as its counterpart, Voyager 1, had done nine years earlier. Speaking of Voyager 1, let's see where it ended up since we last visited in 1980. A year after Voyager 2 finished off Neptune, Voyager 1 was already about 6 billion kilometers away.

To conserve energy for the long

journey

into interstellar space, scientists were going to turn off their cameras forever. However, following Carl Sagan's advice, the team decided to turn the camera around to take one last photo: a look at home and how far we had come. And so, on February 14, 1990, Voyager 1 took the most remote selfie in history, 6 billion kilometers away. The result? The infamous Pale Blue Dot photo. In the immortal words of Carl Sagan himself: “Look at that point again. That's here. That's home. That's us. In it, everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you've ever heard of, every human being who ever existed, lived their lives.

The sum of our joy and suffering, thousands of trusted religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and gatherer, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father , hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every moral teacher, every corrupt politician, every "superstar", every "supreme leader", every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there, on a speck of dust suspended in a lightning bolt. Sun". This sentiment resonates as strongly today as it did 33 years ago. Both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are still operational today, although Voyager 1 is experiencing a small technical issue at the moment.

Still, it is an incredible feat that we managed to take both

probes

into interstellar space, further than any other man-made device. As long as this problem can be fixed, it is estimated that the

probes

will remain viable for a few more years before running out of power and shutting down forever. While we're not sure what these pioneering probes will find in the depths of space, we can be sure that the incredible images they provided us at home have inspired generations of scientists, engineers, stargazers, and dreamers. "There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human vanity than this distant image of our little world.

To me, it underscores our responsibility to treat each other more kindly and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we have." "I have met him once." NASA's Voyager program gave us a perspective on life, on this pale blue dot of ours. Wouldn't it be nice if we could have more of that perspective in our daily lives? That's why former NASA engineer Harleen Kaur created Ground News, a platform where readers can learn about current events without being carried away by a tide of sensationalism, misinformation and prejudice. I'm excited to have you as sponsors today.

Let's take a look at this article about the Voyager 1 problem. Ground News gives you coverage information on a story and helps you know what political bias you may encounter. I can see that there are almost 30 sources reporting and most of them are rated left and center, which surprised me as I had assumed this would be a topic of interest to all sides of the political spectrum. By scrolling down I can read all the articles and compare the reports, including the original NASA press release, an important tool. Finding the original source for space news is really helpful to me, as it seems like almost any story can have some sort of political or misleading spin these days.

If you want to check out Ground News, you can use my QR code or the link in the description below to get 40% off unlimited access. This offer is only available for one month, so don't miss out! Thanks for watching! If you like this image-based video, you might like my other videos in this playlist. Many thanks to my sponsors and members. If you would like to support and add your name to the end of each Astrum video, check out the links below. All the best and until next time.