Amateur Astronomers Tracked Voyager 1’s Faint Signal Across 24.9 Billion Kilometres

Recently, a group of astronomers successfully detected signals from the Voyager 1 space probe using the Dwingeloo Telescope. Built in 1956 by the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, this historic telescope is uniquely suited for capturing faint signals from deep space, making it the perfect tool to connect with Voyager 1.

Detecting The Voyager 1 Spacecraft Signals Using An Old Telescope

The NASA Voyager 1 is a space probe that was launched on 5 September 1977 to help us better study the outer Solar System. Over the past 47 years, this space probe has passed by various planets and solar bodies, transmitting data back to Earth using frequencies that can be received here.

However, in the month of October, NASA lost contact with the Voyager 1 space probe in response to an onboard issue with the probe’s fault protection system. While the exact issue that caused the loss of contact with the probe is still unknown, NASA was able to regain contact with it on 24 October 2024.

This issue which lasted for a few days caused Voyager 1 to turn off its X-band transmitters, the main source of its communications with Earth. In place of the X-band transmitter, the Voyage 1 switched to using its S-band transmitter for the first time since 1981.

Due to the weak signal transmission strength of the S-band transmitter, NASA wasn’t able to contact the Voyager 1 space probe. To establish stable and clear contact with the probe, NASA and the folks at Deep Space Network were able to locate the probe using the S-band signal and reactivate the stronger X-band transmitters.

While this was going on, some amateur astronomers “organized in Stichting Radiotelescoop Dwingeloo (CAMRAS)” were able to find the probe using the X-band carrier signal. In order to do this, they made use of the Dwingeloo Telescope, which observes signals at a frequency lower than 8.4GHz.

To better read these weak signals with an old and small telescope, the team had to mount a new antenna. They also had to use “orbital predictions of Voyager 1 to correct for the Doppler shift in frequency caused by the motion of Earth and Voyager 1.”

This move helped them to be able to see the signals from the Voyager 1 space probe live from their observation room in the Netherlands. From their findings, the Doppler shift in the frequency read by the Dwingeloo Telescope corresponded with that of the Voyager 1 space probe.

A New Way To Locate The Voyager 1 Space Probe

Considering the age of the Voyager 1 and the issues it faced over the past year, we can see that its age is telling on it. Currently, the space probe might not have enough fuel to keep it in orbit as it heads for the outer part of the Solar System.

In the third quarter of 2023, the Voyager 1 space probe started sending back alternating 1s and 0s to NASA. It took the team at NASA six months to work through the issue before the space probe resumed sending readable data back to NASA.

We can expect more of these issues in the coming months ahead, and possibly another shutdown of the X-band transmitters. If this should ever happen, equipment like the Dwingeloo Telescope that can read lower S-band frequencies will come in handy.

By calling lower frequency reading equipment like the Dwingeloo Telescope, NASA will be able to locate Voyager 1 in the event of a malfunction. The discovery of these “amateur astronomers” might just help us locate Voyager 1 in the coming future.