Voyager 2’s Journey into the Heliosheath Sheds Light on Our Solar System’s Interactions with Interstellar Space

On August 30, 2007, Voyager 2 took a different course from its sibling Voyager 1 and entered the region known as the heliosheath. This region is home to the solar wind termination shock, which marks the boundary of the heliosheath. Voyager 2 crossed this boundary about 16 billion kilometers away from Voyager 1 and approximately 1.6 billion kilometers closer to the sun, confirming that our solar system is not perfectly round. Instead, it is “squashed” or “dented” due to the bubble carved into interstellar space by the solar wind.

Voyager 2’s journey into the heliosheath provided valuable insights into the dynamics of our solar system and its interactions with the surrounding interstellar environment. At the point where Voyager 2 made its crossing, the bubble created by the solar wind was pushed in closer to the sun by the local interstellar magnetic field. This means that the shape of the bubble is affected by external forces, showing that our solar system is not isolated from the influences of interstellar space.

The journey of Voyager 2 through the heliosheath has given scientists a better understanding of how our solar system interacts with its surroundings and how it shapes our environment. The findings have also confirmed that our solar system is not perfectly round but rather “squashed” or “dented” due to a bubble carved into interstellar space by