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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) | 112.912 | 92.230 | 107.311 | 130.631 | 31.778 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.998 | 11.319 | 15.394 | 17.014 | 14.590 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.531 | 2.388 | 3.247 | 3.589 | 3.078 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -35° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 25° 53' | -8° 49' | -56° 30' | 12° 8' | -20° 43' | | Right ascension | 5h 7m | 18h 49m | 19h 58m | 17h 13m | 19h 5m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Telescopium | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 112.761 | 92.751 | 107.830 | 130.720 | 32.346 | | One-way light time (hours) | 15.63 | 12.86 | 14.95 | 18.12 | 4.48 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -16.4 | -16.9 | -16.5 | -16.1 | -19.2 | | 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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