[f_minor] Glenn Gould leaves the Solar System

[Pat]

Dear all

This has nothing to directly with GG, but he is a tiny part of the story so please hear me out.

You probably know that the NASA Voyager spacecrafts contain a Golden Record on which sights and sounds from Earth are stored, among them a Bach recording by Glenn Gould. If you remember “32” you can see the spacecrafts being launched, accompanied to Die Kunst der Fuge while the end credits are rolling.

Now according to NASA Voyager I is about to leave the Heliosphere (the realm where solar winds can still be measured) according to a recent press release and will enter Interstellar Space soon. It will be the first spacecraft to achieve this, followed by its companion:
http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/news/new_region.html

Now put on some Bach (for his music is infinite) and think about this for a minute: One Astronomical Unit (AU) is about the distance Earth-Sun. Voyager has crossed around 120 AU by now. The next physical object (probably the Oort Cloud, if it exists) is just some 1000-3000 AU away, followed by the next star system at 270 000 AU. Still think it’s a long walk home from the local pub ?

Yet this should not depress you, au contraire ! GG’s music is almost in Interstellar Space and somehow this gives me comfort.

Pat
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