34 years have passed since Voyager I took off and it's just crossing the solar system, being approximately at 16.4 light-hours away. How much time have passed for itself, though?

Colten Andrade

Colten Andrade

Answered question

2022-09-16

34 years have passed since Voyager I took off and it's just crossing the solar system, being approximately at 16.4 light-hours away. How much time have passed for itself, though?

Answer & Explanation

ti1k1le2l

ti1k1le2l

Beginner2022-09-17Added 9 answers

Using those numbers, let's assume it has been traveling in a straight line at constant speed. Then the speed is
v = 16.4   h r c 34   y r = 5.5 × 10 5 c ,
so we can see right away it is traveling at a negligible fraction of the speed of light.
Still, we can compute the effects of time dilation. The relevant factor is
1 γ = 1 v 2 c 2 = 1 1.5 × 10 9 .
This is because the proper time experienced by the spacecraft is the time lapse we experience - call it Δ t Earth - divided by gamma:
Δ t Voyager = 1 γ Δ t Earth .
The spacecraft's clocks have progressed just a hair under 34 years - in fact, they are slow by
1.5 × 10 9 ( 34   y r ) = 1.6   s .

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