RE: https://mastodon.nl/@radiotelescoop/117620945871579395
Dutch **AMATEUR** radio astronomers observe Voyager 1 with their 25 meter dish. These people are so impressive. These detections involve dozens to hundreds of photons per bit. The Dwingeloo people are aiming to make observations Wednesday when Voyager 1 will cross 1 light-day of distance, and there will be a livestream on camras.nl
Nov 15, 2026, 2:59 PM@bert_hubert The unit of "photons per bit" is a new one on me, and quite frankly amazing as a concept.
I am planning a meal with a friend or two in honour of the 1 light day.
I did have a T-shirt idea, but not managed it as I have been a tad unwell.
Nov 15, 2026, 3:01 PM@revk @bert_hubert the actual Voyager data link encodes 1.5 bits per photon. https://mastodon.social/@hyc/111270353123079776
@revk so I read, I hope things will be better soon! Voyager tends to make me a bit emotional, it represents a time when at least a significant part of humanity was in awe of such things, and people devoted massive resources to make it happen. On photons: https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/816698/how-many-photons-are-received-per-bit-transmitted-from-voyager-1
Nov 15, 2026, 3:45 PM@bert_hubert @revk That page talks about yoctojoules! I must show this to my son. He will be delighted as he is a fan of huge numbers and knows all the names and prefixes.
Nov 15, 2026, 4:18 PM@alzimon @bert_hubert how far is this pushing both physics and mathematics… bits per photon???
@bert_hubert We do not receive any bits from Voyager 1 in Dwingeloo; the graph in the plot is an average of five minutes of reception (we should have put that in the title). We really need a bigger dish :)
The received signal is still stronger than a Venus reflection, but it's in the same ballpark.