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Posted by David Shortt on 2013/09/27 01:30 CDT | 10 comments
With the recent announcement by NASA that the 36 year-old spacecraft Voyager 1 has officially entered interstellar space at a distance from the sun about four times further than Neptune's orbit, and with Voyager 2 not far behind, it seems worthwhile to explore how humans managed to fling objects so far into space.
Posted by Stephen J. Pyne on 2013/09/25 11:15 CDT | 2 comments
The Voyagers were special when they launched. They have become more so thanks to their longevity, the breadth of their discoveries, the cultural payload they carried, and the sheer audacity of their quest.
Has Voyager 1 left the Solar System?
Posted by Bruce Betts on 2013/09/12 07:26 CDT | 3 comments
Has Voyager 1 left the Solar System? NASA announced it has entered interstellar space. What does that mean? Check out this short video discussing the answers.
Posted by Bill Dunford on 2013/07/29 01:18 CDT | 4 comments
Pushing back the frontier, and filling in the blank spaces on the map.
Lesser-known views of Uranus and Neptune
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/05/28 10:58 CDT | 7 comments
Despite the fact that Voyager 2 returned relatively few high-resolution images from either Uranus or Neptune, there are many more photos in the archives than regularly make it to public view.
Planetary Society Weekly Hangout: The Ice Giants, with Heidi Hammel
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/04/11 02:00 CDT | 5 comments
My guest this was Planetary Society Board vice president Heidi Hammel. We discussed two planets near and dear to our hearts, Neptune and Uranus. What's new on these icy worlds since Voyager 2 passed by, and what are the prospects for their future exploration?
LPSC 2013: License to Chill (or, the solar system's icy moons)
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/03/27 11:52 CDT
Reports from the March 19 session at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference covering eight icy moons in the outer solar system: Ganymede, Europa, Dione, Rhea, Mimas, Tethys, Enceladus, and Miranda.
Posted by Ted Stryk on 2013/02/28 12:59 CST | 1 comments
Presenting a newly-processed version of Voyager 2's best images of Uranus' moon Umbriel.
Pretty picture: Neptune and Triton
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/02/01 12:29 CST | 6 comments
On a lonely evening, what is one to do but to dip into archival space image data and surface with a gorgeous photo of a crescent Neptune and Triton?
Voyager 1 revisited: Io and Europa transiting Jupiter
Posted by Björn Jónsson on 2013/01/22 06:04 CST
What is the highest resolution global Jupiter mosaic that includes a satellite transit that can be assembled from Voyager images? Satellite transits are especially beautiful when the resolution is high enough for some details to be visible on the satellites so I decided to check this. And I was remarkably lucky.
A couple of gems from the archives
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/09/10 11:07 CDT | 2 comments
We're still working on migrating content from the old to the new website. This week, that means I am looking, one by one, through some great amateur-processed space images.
The Planetary Society Celebrates 35 Years of Voyager
Posted by Casey Dreier on 2012/09/07 02:12 CDT
The Planetary Society welcomed Dr. Ed Stone, Voyager Project Scientist for the past forty (yes, forty) years to the stage for an intimate evening discussing the past, present, and future events for the enduring Voyager spacecraft.
A Voyager 1 anniversary mosaic
Posted by Björn Jónsson on 2012/09/06 11:58 CDT
Back in 1979 the twin Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft flew by Jupiter. Some of their images were processed into color images and mosaics that have appeared countless times in books, magazines, on TV and on the Internet. Many of these images and mosaics are spectacular but they were processed more than 30 years ago using computers that are extremely primitive by today's standards. It's possible to get better results by processing the original, raw images from the Voyagers using modern computers and software.
Cure for the blues: processing images of a blue planet
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/09/06 01:00 CDT
I noticed today that I hadn't seen any amateur-processed versions of Voyager's departing shots of Uranus, so I decided to give it a try.
What's up in the Solar System in August 2012
Posted by Jason Davis on 2012/08/03 06:03 CDT
Welcome to the monthly roundup of our solar system's envoy of electronic explorers! All eyes are on Curiosity as it approaches Mars this weekend. Who will lend support at the Red Planet?
Cartoon: Voyager's ongoing adventures
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/04/23 11:36 CDT | 2 comments
I'm not sure what to make of this Youtube cartoon about Voyager, except to say that it's simultaneously heart-wrenching, funny, and adorable.
Snapshots From Space Video: Revealing Jupiter's (Mostly) Unseen Treasures
Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/03/18 01:46 CDT | 2 comments
Tens of thousands of Jupiter images were taken by the Voyager spacecraft, but relatively few have been processed to reveal their true beauty and wonder. The latest Snapshots video from Emily Lakdawalla explains why.
Pretty Picture: A snapshot of Voyager 1's departure from Jupiter
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/03/13 04:08 CDT
In this week's Snapshots from Space video, I talk about the Voyager 1 images of Jupiter -- how many there are (tens of thousands), and what a challenge they represent for image processors. But, I promise, the effort is worth it. Here's just one example: it's a color, crescent view of Jupiter, taken by Voyager 1 as it departed.
Pretty pictures: Voyager 2 at Jupiter
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/03/02 01:22 CST
Here are two perfect examples of Voyager 2's amazing untapped treasures.
Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/12/05 04:13 CST
A report on a press briefing about Voyager 1 at the Fall 2011 American Geophyisical Union meeting. The spacecraft has entered a new region between our solar system and interstellar space, which scientists are calling the stagnation region.
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