Full Version: question about the voyagers?
I was wondering, Could the hubble telescope get a picture of any of the voyager or pioneer satalites?
I'm simply guessing, but I would say that a good radio telescope could pick them up for another thirty years, given their general distance from the Earth.
HST is another matter. It must either resolve a surface that is emitting, or reflecting light from near-infrared to near ultraviolet. Something I don't know is how well it is able to point, these days, or if that will be fixed when they repair Hubble.
Anyway, the HST was barely able to pick out light and dark on the surface of Pluto. I don't remember offhand what wavelengths Pluto was imaged in, but that would be something to consider. IOW, whatever limitations currently exist in HST or any other similar earth-based telescope in near-infrared, optical, or near-ultraviolet capabilities, are the criteria for resolving a single spacecraft or satellite probe beyond a certain distance from the Sun.
Given that Voyager type objects are comparitivley small, compared to Pluto or similar celestial bodies, and they are at a distance where sunlight is very diffuse, I would suggest their surface reflections are very minimal, and beneath the lower limits for Hubble.
As a matter of fact, the HST has taken images of Saturn. The question might be asked if it was able to resolve the Casinni spacecraft. Of course, there are no such images I have ever read about, simply put.
Now, astronomers pick out asteroids and comets using optical and near-infrared earth-based telescopes- perhaps
30 a year. With ever improving CCD systems, though, it's probably more than that, as I write. But, actually resolving a space satellite probe somewhere close to interstellar distance, sounds beyond optical telescopes.
Radio telescope sensitivity might be another matter, altogether.
HST is another matter. It must either resolve a surface that is emitting, or reflecting light from near-infrared to near ultraviolet. Something I don't know is how well it is able to point, these days, or if that will be fixed when they repair Hubble.
Anyway, the HST was barely able to pick out light and dark on the surface of Pluto. I don't remember offhand what wavelengths Pluto was imaged in, but that would be something to consider. IOW, whatever limitations currently exist in HST or any other similar earth-based telescope in near-infrared, optical, or near-ultraviolet capabilities, are the criteria for resolving a single spacecraft or satellite probe beyond a certain distance from the Sun.
Given that Voyager type objects are comparitivley small, compared to Pluto or similar celestial bodies, and they are at a distance where sunlight is very diffuse, I would suggest their surface reflections are very minimal, and beneath the lower limits for Hubble.
As a matter of fact, the HST has taken images of Saturn. The question might be asked if it was able to resolve the Casinni spacecraft. Of course, there are no such images I have ever read about, simply put.
Now, astronomers pick out asteroids and comets using optical and near-infrared earth-based telescopes- perhaps
30 a year. With ever improving CCD systems, though, it's probably more than that, as I write. But, actually resolving a space satellite probe somewhere close to interstellar distance, sounds beyond optical telescopes.
Radio telescope sensitivity might be another matter, altogether.
Hubble would not be able to resolve a vehicle such as the Voyagers at the distance of the Moon (I can't see the Apollo Lunar Module descent stages and they are considerably larger than Voyager) so it would have no hope at distances beyond Neptune. In fact even the worlds largest telescopes can not image most of the Kuiper Belt as much more than a bright doy, and these are objects at comparable distances to Voyager (beyond Neptune) and tens or even hundreds of miles across.
magnetar is sort of right about radio telescopes. The NASA Deep Space Network antennae, which track deep space probes, are basicall radio telescopes. However the only reason they can detect the Voyager and Pioneer spacecraft is because they are still transmitting. The moment their transmitters fail, or they move beyond the range of the recievers then the DSN will lose them. After that it is highly unlikely we will ever see them again.
magnetar is sort of right about radio telescopes. The NASA Deep Space Network antennae, which track deep space probes, are basicall radio telescopes. However the only reason they can detect the Voyager and Pioneer spacecraft is because they are still transmitting. The moment their transmitters fail, or they move beyond the range of the recievers then the DSN will lose them. After that it is highly unlikely we will ever see them again.
K. Thanks for the Input
QUOTE (Waspie_Dwarf @ Feb 9 2008, 11:05 AM) 
The NASA Deep Space Network antennae, which track deep space probes, are basicall radio telescopes. However the only reason they can detect the Voyager and Pioneer spacecraft is because they are still transmitting. The moment their transmitters fail, or they move beyond the range of the recievers then the DSN will lose them. After that it is highly unlikely we will ever see them again.
Unless it comes back as V-GER,as in that original Star Trek movie....
QUOTE (DEBUNKER @ Mar 10 2008, 06:26 PM)
Unless it comes back as V-GER,as in that original Star Trek movie....
Well... to be technical - and extremely Trek Geeky
- V'Ger was the "reincarnation" of Voyager 6, which, as we all know, does not exist. Cz
Voyager 6 definitely has missed its launch date as reported in Star Trek, but I still see a robot probe with the same function being sent out eventually. 200 years may be?
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.