How long until Voyager 1 reaches the nearest star?

Answer 1

Yogager 1, a hypothetical spacecraft designed for interstellar travel, faces an extraordinary journey to reach the nearest star. While the concept of reaching another star system may seem daunting due to vast distances and limitations in propulsion technology, let's delve into the time frame involved.

The nearest star to our solar system is Proxima Centauri, located approximately 4.24 light-years away. As Yogager 1 embarks on this epic voyage, it would need to surpass incredible speeds to decrease travel time significantly.

For comparison purposes, Voyager 1—a probe launched by NASA—has been traveling since its launch in 1977 and has only reached approximately 0.002 light-years away from Earth as of now. Achieving even a fraction of light-speed presents enormous engineering challenges that remain beyond our current technological capabilities.

However, supposing we envision future advancements in propulsion systems enabling significant fractions of lightspeed travel for Yogager 1; we can explore potential scenarios:

Scenario A: Constant acceleration at one g (9.8 m/s²) - In this theoretical case where Yogager maintains continuous acceleration equaling Earth's gravity force throughout its entire journey without deceleration phase or turning back, it would take roughly four years according to onboard observers' clocks (time dilation). However, from an external observer's perspective on Earth accounting for relativistic effects (length contraction), roughly six years would have passed when Yogager reaches Proxima Centauri.

Scenario B: Near-light speed cruising with deceleration - If we assume Yogager gradually accelerates up to near-light speed during half its journey and then decelerates at the same rate during the remaining half until coming to a stop near Proxima Centauri, various factors come into play due to time dilation and length contraction effects caused by special relativity theory:

• For an onboard observer experiencing time dilation effects while perceiving their travel duration as shorter than external observers, the journey might appear to last around two and a half years.

• For an external observer on Earth factoring in relativistic effects (time dilation and length contraction), Yogager's travel duration would seem longer. Depending on the exact velocities reached during acceleration and deceleration phases, it could range from roughly four to six years.

However, it is essential to note that these scenarios rely heavily on speculative future technological advancements that may or may not occur. At present, human interstellar travel remains purely theoretical as we continue exploring possibilities for achieving such tremendous feats within realistic timeframes.

Answer 2

It will most likely not "reach" any star, but go between the stars, not getting very close to any one.

Of course, you can calculate how long it would take hypothetically to get to Proxima Centauri, for example (assuming it went in that direction), by dividing the distance to Proxima Centauri (about 4.2 light years - don't forget to convert that to kilometers) by the speed at which Voyager 1 is traveling (currently moving at about 17 km/sec relative to the Sun).

Comments : That math gives an answer of roughly 75,000 years.

I've also read that "Voyager 1" would take about 60,000 years to reach the nearest star, if it was going that way. There are other estimates too, but it would certainly take tens of thousands of years.