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P-34540 Range: 37.3 million kilometers (23.6 million miles) This image captured by the Voyager 2 spacecraft was used to confirm the discovery of three new satellites orbiting Neptune. The 46-second exposure was taken with the narrow angle camera and shows the large globe of the planet to be severely overexposed and almost pure white in appearance. The image has been computer-processed to accentuate the new moons, which otherwise would be hard to distinguish from background noise. The satellite 1989N1, at right in this frame, was discovered by Voyager 2 in early July 1989. The new satellites confirmed later are 1989N2, 1989N3 and 1989N4. Each of the moons appears as a small streak, an effect caused by movement of the spacecraft during the long exposure. The new moons occupy nearly circular and equatorial orbits ranging from about 27,300 to 48,300 kilometers (17,000 to 30,000 miles) from Neptunes's cloud tops, and are estimated to range in diameter from about 100 to 200 kilometers (about 60 to 125 miles). ARC-1989-A89-7041
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P-34540 Range: 37.3 million kilometers (23.6 million miles) This image captured by the Voyager 2 spacecraft was used to confirm the discovery of three new satellites orbiting Neptune. The 46-second exposure was taken with the narrow angle camera and shows the large globe of the planet to be severely overexposed and almost pure white in appearance. The image has been computer-processed to accentuate the new moons, which otherwise would be hard to distinguish from background noise. The satellite 1989N1, at right in this frame, was discovered by Voyager 2 in early July 1989. The new satellites confirmed later are 1989N2, 1989N3 and 1989N4. Each of the moons appears as a small streak, an effect caused by movement of the spacecraft during the long exposure. The new moons occupy nearly circular and equatorial orbits ranging from about 27,300 to 48,300 kilometers (17,000 to 30,000 miles) from Neptunes's cloud tops, and are estimated to range in diameter from about 100 to 200 kilometers (about 60 to 125 miles).
In 1977, Voyager 1 and 2 started their one-way journey to the end of the solar system and beyond, now traveling a million miles a day. Jimmy Carter was president when NASA launched two probes from Cape Canaveral. Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, were initially meant to explore Jupiter, Saturn, and their moons. They did that. But then they kept going at a rate of 35,000 miles per hour. Each craft bears an object that is a record, both dubbed the Golden Records. They were the product of Carl Sagan and his team who produced a record that would, if discovered by aliens, represent humanity and "communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials."
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