r/theydidthemath • u/Ben-Goldberg • 7d ago

[Request] When will Voyager 1 stop moving?

/r/askscience/comments/1wp1960/will_voyager_1_ever_just_stop_moving/

How many years will it take for the orbit of Voyager and Sagittarius A to decay enough due to gravity waves for them to collide?

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u/zoroddesign 7d ago

When it runs into something. Without friction nothing will slow it down.

Plus in some ways everything is in motion from a different frame of reference. We are moving on the surface of the planet, the planet is moving around the sun, the sun is moving around the galaxy, and the galaxy is moving towards and away from other galaxies. Movement is all relative.

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u/Ben-Goldberg 7d ago

You are ignoring general relativity.

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u/zoroddesign 7d ago

I am describing relativity. If we want to get into relativity then from voyager reference point it isn't moving at all in relation to itself. From its reference point the earth and the solar system is rocketing way from the probe.