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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) | 116.885 | 95.944 | 112.301 | 136.265 | 36.537 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.976 | 11.286 | 15.370 | 16.997 | 14.339 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.526 | 2.381 | 3.242 | 3.586 | 3.025 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -36° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 25° 59' | -8° 50' | -57° 30' | 12° 10' | -20° 50' | | Right ascension | 5h 12m | 18h 46m | 19h 54m | 17h 11m | 18h 57m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 116.636 | 95.796 | 112.083 | 136.516 | 36.349 | | One-way light time (hours) | 16.17 | 13.28 | 15.54 | 18.92 | 5.04 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -16.4 | -16.8 | -16.4 | -16.0 | -18.9 | | 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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