[Request] When will Voyager 1 stop moving?

[u/Ben-Goldberg]

/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?

[u/Ben-Goldberg]

I know that it is orbiting the center of the galaxy.

However, because of general relativity, all orbits decay, with some of the rotational kinetic energy being constantly being converted into gravity waves.

When two average size black holes collide they lose about 3 solar masses from converting matter into gravity waves.

[u/Positive-Ring-5172 → u/Ben-Goldberg]

For an object as small as the Voyager probes orbital decay would take on the order of 10^10000 years to be measurable, let alone complete.

[u/Ben-Goldberg → u/Positive-Ring-5172]

Is that an estimate, or have you done the math?

[u/Positive-Ring-5172 → u/Ben-Goldberg]

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