Revisiting the Pale Blue Dot at 30

For the longest time, space seemed like just a big, nearly empty place. However, as we learned more about the universe around us, we discovered other planets orbiting our Sun, and even planets that orbit other stars trillions of miles away. In this video, discover how NASA has explored the space beyond Earth and our solar system with spacecraft like Voyagers 1 and 2, and how we’ve discovered thousands of planets outside of our solar system — also called exoplanets — with space telescopes like Kepler and TESS.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic: "Virtual Memory" from Killer TracksYouTube linkComplete transcript available.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. A 90-second version of the above video focusing primarily on the Kepler and TESS missions.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic: "Virtual Memory" from Killer TracksComplete transcript available.Watch this video on the NASA.gov Video YouTube channel. This animation compares the space region where Kepler searched for exoplanets to those now being studied by TESS.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center This animation shows where the two Voyager spacecraft are currently located relative to the planets of our solar system, as well as how long it took each Voyager to enter interstellar space. Also shown are the termination shock (in red), the heliopause (blue oval), and the bow wave (blue arc at left).Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center In this animation, the camera flies out of the solar system to reveal the locations of both the Voyager spacecraft and the structures of the heliosphere.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Square version of the above.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center This animation shows the termination shock, heliopause, and bow wave, shows where interstellar space begins, and illustrates the distance and direction to the nearest star.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Unlabeled version of the above. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center In this animation, the camera moves slowly toward our Milky Way galaxy.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center This animation illustrates the portion of our galaxy where the Kepler space telescope searched for exoplanets. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center This animation depicts some of the stars closest to the Sun. The nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, and its distance to the Sun are shown.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Related pages

Complete transcript available.Music credit: Dream Girl 3 by Yuri Sazonoff Where does the solar system end? It all depends on the criteria you are using. Based on where the planets end, you could say it's Neptune and the Kuiper Belt. If you measure by edge of the sun's magnetic fields, the end is the heliosphere. If you judge by the stopping point of sun's gravitational influence, the solar system would end at the Oort Cloud. Related pages

Visualization centered on the Voyager 1 trajectory through the solar system. Opening view of Earth orbit looking outward to the rest of the solar system. Voyager 1 (and 2) cross the orbit of Mars, slightly above the ecliptic plane to avoid the asteroid belt between Mars & Jupiter. The camera moves out ahead of the Voyagers for a view back at the inner solar system. Voyager 1 just after the Jupiter flyby on March 5, 1979. Voyager 1 just before the Saturn flyby on November 12, 1980. With a gravity-assist from the Saturn flyby, Voyager 1 is directed above the plane of the solar system and continues outward. This is near the time of the Voyager 1 'Family Portrait'. The orbit of Pluto is the grey orbit visible above the orbits of the other planets. Voyager 1 crosses the termination shock of the solar wind. For simplified and symmetric termination shock model, the timing is not accurate. In reality, this crossing occurred around December of 2004. Voyager 1 (and 2) beyond the heliopause near the end of 2017. A slightly sped-up version of the Voyager 1 visualization above, reducing the time for the Voyagers to cross the asteroid belt. This visualization tracks the trajectory of the Voyager 1 spacecraft through the solar system. Launched on September 5, 1977, it was one of two spacecraft sent to visit the giant planets of the outer solar system. Voyager 1 flew by Jupiter and Saturn before being directed out of the solar system.To fit the 40 year history of the mission into a short visualization, the pacing of time accelerates through most of the movie, starting at about 5 days per second at the beginning and speeding up to about 11 months per second after the planet flybys are past.The termination shock and heliopause are the 'boundaries' created when the plasma between the stars interacts with the plasma flowing outward from the Sun. They are represented with simple grid models and oriented so their 'nose' is pointed in the direction (Right Ascension = 17h 24m, declination = 17 degrees south) represented by more recent measurements from other missions. Voyager 1's 'Family Portrait' On Valentine's Day 1990, Voyager 1's camera were pointed back at the solar system to image the planets.Check out Voyager at NASA/JPL for more information. Related pages