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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) | 141.682 | 119.097 | 143.654 | 171.541 | 65.349 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.865 | 11.126 | 15.257 | 16.918 | 13.572 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.503 | 2.347 | 3.219 | 3.569 | 2.863 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -38° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 26° 1' | -8° 51' | -59° 58' | 12° 20' | -20° 14' | | Right ascension | 5h 15m | 18h 54m | 20h 7m | 17h 15m | 19h 16m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 142.116 | 118.347 | 143.001 | 171.224 | 64.531 | | One-way light time (hours) | 19.70 | 16.40 | 19.82 | 23.73 | 8.94 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -15.9 | -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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