|
Spacecraft escaping the Solar System
|
Home
|
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.
|
|
View from 90° above ecliptic plane
|
|
|
|
View from 10° above ecliptic plane
|
|
| Pioneer 10 | Pioneer 11 | Voyager 2 | Voyager 1 | New Horizons | | Distance from Sun (AU) | 140.001 | 117.529 | 141.520 | 169.145 | 63.427 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.871 | 11.134 | 15.263 | 16.923 | 13.602 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.504 | 2.349 | 3.220 | 3.570 | 2.869 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -38° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 26° 0' | -9° 2' | -59° 25' | 12° 3' | -20° 17' | | Right ascension | 5h 13m | 18h 54m | 20h 6m | 17h 16m | 19h 16m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 139.020 | 118.420 | 142.208 | 169.946 | 64.316 | | One-way light time (hours) | 19.27 | 16.41 | 19.71 | 23.56 | 8.91 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -16.0 | -16.3 | -15.9 | -15.6 | -17.7 | | 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 |
|
|