OK, Voyager Has Definitely Left Solar System: NASA

The Voyager 1 has officially become the first man-made object to cross out of the solar system and into interstellar space—no, really this time. After a series of mistaken and controversial reports, NASA today published a study concluding that the probe definitively crossed the threshold of charged particles and magnetic fields that marks the edge of the Sun's influence sometime last August, Space.com reports. Researchers figured that out based on measurements Voyager recorded from a recent solar eruption. "We literally jumped out of our seats," the lead researcher says.

"Voyager has boldly gone where no probe has gone before, marking one of the most significant technological achievements in the annals of the history of science," NASA's science chief boasted in a statement. "Perhaps some future deep-space explorers will catch up with Voyager, our first interstellar envoy, and reflect on how this intrepid spacecraft helped enable their future." (More Voyager 1 stories.)