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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) | 133.634 | 111.587 | 133.444 | 160.072 | 56.113 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.896 | 11.171 | 15.288 | 16.940 | 13.735 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.510 | 2.356 | 3.225 | 3.574 | 2.897 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -38° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 25° 57' | -8° 45' | -59° 10' | 12° 26' | -20° 11' | | Right ascension | 5h 12m | 18h 55m | 20h 8m | 17h 16m | 19h 18m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 134.626 | 110.791 | 132.850 | 159.254 | 55.339 | | One-way light time (hours) | 18.66 | 15.36 | 18.41 | 22.07 | 7.67 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -16.1 | -16.5 | -16.1 | -15.7 | -18.0 | | 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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