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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) | 111.434 | 90.847 | 105.457 | 128.535 | 29.988 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 12.007 | 11.332 | 15.403 | 17.020 | 14.704 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.533 | 2.390 | 3.249 | 3.590 | 3.102 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -35° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 25° 56' | -8° 39' | -56° 55' | 12° 24' | -20° 54' | | Right ascension | 5h 10m | 18h 45m | 19h 54m | 17h 10m | 18h 54m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 112.119 | 89.951 | 104.665 | 128.012 | 29.056 | | One-way light time (hours) | 15.54 | 12.47 | 14.51 | 17.74 | 4.03 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -16.5 | -16.9 | -16.6 | -16.2 | -19.3 | | 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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