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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) | 123.348 | 101.984 | 120.441 | 145.442 | 44.168 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.943 | 11.237 | 15.335 | 16.973 | 14.043 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.519 | 2.371 | 3.235 | 3.580 | 2.962 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -37° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 25° 54' | -8° 45' | -58° 0' | 12° 21' | -20° 20' | | Right ascension | 5h 9m | 18h 53m | 20h 4m | 17h 15m | 19h 15m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 124.038 | 101.667 | 120.268 | 144.853 | 43.904 | | One-way light time (hours) | 17.19 | 14.09 | 16.67 | 20.08 | 6.09 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -16.2 | -16.7 | -16.3 | -15.9 | -18.5 | | 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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