19. How far can the Sun's ultraviolet rays reach? (A K2S Question)

From The Space Library

Most people do not realize this, but we are actually living within the atmosphere of a star called the Sun. The Sun bathes the entire solar system with a volatile mix of highly energized particles called the solar wind, and the Earth' s magnetosphere helps protect the inhabitants of Earth from the deadly effects that these particles would have on our bodies. The two Voyager spacecraft, which were launched back in the 1970s, are only now just getting to the outer reaches of the solar system and may actually cross the heliopause, where the influence of the Sun's atmosphere begins to end. We believe the two spacecraft will cross this outer boundary layer within another decade to become the first human spacecraft to ever truly sense what interstellar medium is like. (The interstellar medium is the space found in the vast distance between stars.)

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Answer provided by Jim Zebrowski

Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer

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