|
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) | 139.826 | 117.365 | 141.297 | 168.894 | 63.226 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.872 | 11.135 | 15.264 | 16.923 | 13.605 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.504 | 2.349 | 3.220 | 3.570 | 2.870 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -38° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 26° 1' | -9° 1' | -59° 30' | 12° 4' | -20° 19' | | Right ascension | 5h 14m | 18h 54m | 20h 5m | 17h 16m | 19h 15m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 138.916 | 118.018 | 141.763 | 169.654 | 63.844 | | One-way light time (hours) | 19.26 | 16.36 | 19.65 | 23.52 | 8.85 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -16.0 | -16.4 | -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 |
|
|