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Spacecraft escaping the Solar System
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This page shows the current positions and other interesting data of the five spacecraft which are leaving the Solar System on escape trajectories - our first emissaries to the stars. On this scale, the nearest star to the Sun would be approximately 100 meters away, and it would take Voyager 1 about 70,000 years to cover that distance.
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View from 90° above ecliptic plane
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View from 10° above ecliptic plane
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| Pioneer 10 | Pioneer 11 | Voyager 2 | Voyager 1 | New Horizons | | Distance from Sun (AU) | 141.150 | 118.601 | 142.979 | 170.782 | 64.741 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.867 | 11.128 | 15.259 | 16.920 | 13.581 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.503 | 2.348 | 3.219 | 3.569 | 2.865 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -38° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 25° 58' | -8° 47' | -59° 47' | 12° 26' | -20° 6' | | Right ascension | 5h 13m | 18h 56m | 20h 10m | 17h 16m | 19h 21m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 142.149 | 117.788 | 142.373 | 169.961 | 63.950 | | One-way light time (hours) | 19.70 | 16.33 | 19.73 | 23.56 | 8.86 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -16.0 | -16.3 | -15.9 | -15.5 | -17.6 | | Spacecraft still functioning? | no | no | yes | yes | yes | | Launch date | 1972-Mar-03 | 1973-Apr-06 | 1977-Aug-20 | 1977-Sep-05 | 2006-Jan-19 |
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