Forty-eight years ago, in 1977, NASA launched a cutting-edge piece of technology into space: Voyager 1. In 2012, the probe passed beyond the edge of our solar system and has now travelled more than 24 billion kilometres. Remarkably, it is still accessible to scientists for remote maintenance via a 3.7-metre dish and radio signals that take more than 22 hours to reach it. Its data is stored on a 67 MB recorder, astonishingly small by today’s standards. Who knows where this piece of technology will one day end up.
Equally fascinating are the images of a rock arriving from outside our solar system, the 3I-Atlas comet, the third interstellar object ever recorded and currently on a path towards us. It is a captivating fragment of the cosmos, passing us by in relative proximity. Its orbit, shape and behaviour have led to speculation that it might even be artificial, a possibility raised by Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb.
It is a reminder of how small we are on our own little planet, spinning on its axis, orbiting the sun, and circling the centre of our galaxy roughly every 250 million years. This cosmic motion creates a stunning geometric pattern (search YouTube for How Our Solar System Moves Through Space: The Galactic Orbit and Cosmic Dance Explained).
Can we predict what these cycles and patterns mean for us? The Earth’s magnetic field is fluctuating, and electromagnetic radiation is increasing compared to previous years. Apps such as Space Weather make this visible, while podcasts like Ben Davidson’s SpaceWeatherNews and Dr Ben Miles’ discussions explore Earth’s 12,000-year cycles, often referred to as Earth Disaster Cycles. The magnetic poles have been shifting for some time, the sun is becoming more active, and a growing body of research from several universities supports these observations.
The benefit of this wealth of data is that it allows deeper analysis and more accurate predictions. Scientists are now monitoring everything from atmospheric changes to likely earthquake zones. (Follow dutchsinse, who makes evidence-based forecasts and tracks his own accuracy. He’s usually right.)
I’m watching all this with curiosity and awe. What else might we discover when we combine and analyse data across so many disciplines? As a professional, I’m looking forward to it. As a human being, it’s getting more and more exciting.
Wouter Bronsgeest President KNVI