[VoiceofHopeFebruary192023](Editor: Guo Xiao) The innate curiosity and thirst for knowledge make human beings constantly explore the unknown universe. Now we have reached the moon, the closest planet to the earth, but there is still a long way to go before uncovering the mystery of the boundless universe. Due to the limitation of factors such as the level of science and technology, most of the time, human beings can only explore things in the depths of the universe through interstellar probes. And Voyager 2, launched in 1977, was tasked with exploring Venus, Mars, and Mercury, and following completing this mission, it continued to fly toward the depths of the universe, and even flew to the edge of the solar system. But here they encountered a mysterious “fire wall” blocking. Does this mean that human beings will never be able to cross this “firewall” and fly out of the solar system?
The information sent back shows that there is a plasma barrier with a temperature as high as 49427°C in this marginal space. In fact, before Voyager 2 encountered this “wall of fire”, Voyager 1 passed through this area from different directions. area. However, due to different instruments and equipment, Voyager 2 has related equipment that can monitor solar particles and observe other cosmic rays, so scientists can analyze the situation encountered by Voyager 2 through the various data sent back. However, the data sent back on the 1st did not attract people’s attention, also because there was no monitoring equipment. After analysis, scientists believe that the firewall is the result of high-speed collisions between solar wind particles, cosmic radiation from beyond the solar system, and interstellar ions.
The high-energy radiation particles produced by solar activities spread to the surroundings through the solar wind, some are absorbed by celestial bodies or are bounced and gathered by the magnetic field in them, and those that are not absorbed follow new routes until they reach the furthest point under the gravitational range of the sun. place. In this process, the energy of the particles will also be correspondingly weakened, and they will compete with the interstellar particles of the outer system to form a tight “high-energy particle wall”, which resists 70% of the deadly rays in the universe, and separates the solar system from the universe. Separated to protect the inner solar system from these radiation attacks. And the temperature of this firewall can be as high as 49427°C, also because the radiation particles inside move too fast.
Temperature is often used by people to measure the degree of movement of microscopic particles. According to the knowledge of thermodynamics, the faster the movement of microscopic particles, the higher the temperature displayed. High-temperature molecular movement is strong. It is reasonable to say that under such high-temperature conditions, Voyager 2 will gasify due to the high temperature following approaching, resulting in ashes being wiped out. However, in fact, although the rate of cosmic radiation particles is very fast, in the interstellar space 18 billion kilometers away from the earth, the density of matter here is very low, and the number of particles gathered together is very small, so it cannot form a barrier with strong resistance. The actual heat shock Voyager 2 received was also very small, like a wall of foam, passing through it easily and smoothly.
In December 2018, Voyager 2 successfully flew out of the heliosphere, becoming the second probe to enter interstellar space following Voyager 1. Although it has crossed the “firewall” and seems to have stepped into the step of exploring the universe, as far as the universe is concerned, it is not too far away from the earth and is still in the solar system. Compared with the distance of light years in the universe, the traveler’s journey of more than 40 years is really like a tree being shaken by a mayfly, or a drop in the ocean. The boundary of the solar system we think is actually the place where the particles delivered by the solar wind can reach. At present, the boundary of the solar system is the small celestial body gathering area of the Oort cloud. It will take regarding 300 years for Voyager 2 to fly here, and It will take a longer time to fly out of this area, 30,000 years.
According to the existing technology of human beings, speed is the biggest obstacle to leaving the solar system. From the perspective of the effective gravitational range of the solar system, if the radius of the solar system is 2 light-years away at the speed of Voyager 1 and 2, and the speed is 14 kilometers per second, it will take at least 20,000 years to leave the solar system. It is completely impossible for humans to do. There are a lot of radiation rays outside the solar system, and we still need to study how to make the human body withstand these high-intensity radiation outside the solar system. When astronauts leave the earth, they must pay great attention to the impact of radiation on the human body. Studies have shown that cosmic radiation in the Milky Way can cause very serious tumors in the human body.
At the same time, the human body is very fragile and needs various nutrients to provide the energy needed by the body to maintain the health of the body. Hundreds of trace elements must be supplemented every day, and the requirements for the environment are also very high. The temperature should not be too high or too low , otherwise it will affect the human body. We all know that the effect of force is mutual. If human beings want to fly out of the solar system, they need to return this energy to the universe. For example, launching rockets, detectors, etc., all of which require corresponding fuel that can support a sufficient distance of flight as power, and at the same time, it also consumes energy to accelerate or change direction. When launching rockets and other spacecraft, a lot of energy will be consumed. First of all, the resistance of the atmosphere must be overcome. If you want to fly out of the solar system, you need a lot of energy and limit the number of people.
At present, human aviation technology cannot support the desire to fly out of the solar system, and human footsteps have not even set foot on the surface of Mars. Voyager 2, which has been sailing for more than 40 years, has brought a lot of cosmic data to mankind, and at the same time it is telling us that human beings will not be able to fly out of the solar system in the short term. What’s more, the “fire wall” that protects the interior of the solar system from radiation can only show that inanimate bodies can pass through without obstacles, but whether the human body can withstand it cannot be explained. But we must not give up easily. May I ask, hundreds of years ago, how did human beings ever think that they might successfully step on the moon palace one day in the future? It can be seen that as long as you persevere, anything is possible.
Civilization always shines with the accumulation of years. Everyone can choose to believe that in the future, human beings will have the hope of rushing out of the solar system, and even rushing to the broader interstellar space.
Editor in charge: Li Jingrou