How fast was Voyager 2 going when it left our solar system, and, at that speed, how long to the closest star?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

At present, the Voyager I & II are moving at a speed of 35,000 miles per hour. The nearest star, Proxima centauri is 4.22 light years away.

Light travels at a speed of 186, 000 miles/sec. =

186,000 x 3600 x 24 x 365 = 5.865 trillion miles per light year.

To travel the distance of one light year, Voyager will have to travel for 5.865 trillion miles/(35,000x 24 x 365) = 19,130 years.

(Another way to calculate is speed of light/sec divided by speed of voyage/sec = 186,000/(35,000 X 3600) = 19,130 years).

For 4.22 light years = 4.22 x 19,130 = 80,730 years.

However, the Voyager is powered by slow decay of depleted putonium on board, which will last ony 8,000 years.

Source(s):

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/200…

Answer 2

Since the closest star (other than Sol, our own sun) is roughly 6 light years away, voyager 2 will not reach it for a few hundred thousand years. For Voyager's speed, look up 'Voyager' on google or wikipedia.

Answer 3

idk about the speed but they guy below me is completely wrong. the nearest star is 4.3 lightyears away. its called alpha centuari.

Answer 4

you are all wrong. its proxima centauri (slightly closer than alpha centauri) and voyager hasnt left the solar system yet. its just poking its nose (does it have a nose) into the Heliopause... got a long way to go before its surfing the interstellar winds, dude.

Source(s):

http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imag…

Answer 5

As of August 10, 2007, Voyager 2 is at a distance of around 83.5 AU from the Sun, traveling outward at roughly 3.3 AUs a year.

A light year is 63,240 AU - the nearest star is Proxima Centauri at 4.3 light years (therefore 271,932 AU away). Voyager is already 83.5 AU from the sun, so Prox. Cent. would be 271,847 AU away.
If Voyager 2 was heading in that direction (which it isn't), then at 3.3 AU/year it would take about 82, 377 years to get there.