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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) | 133.678 | 111.629 | 133.501 | 160.136 | 56.165 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.896 | 11.170 | 15.288 | 16.940 | 13.734 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.509 | 2.356 | 3.225 | 3.573 | 2.897 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -38° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 25° 57' | -8° 45' | -59° 12' | 12° 26' | -20° 12' | | Right ascension | 5h 12m | 18h 54m | 20h 8m | 17h 15m | 19h 18m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 134.687 | 110.774 | 132.851 | 159.308 | 55.323 | | One-way light time (hours) | 18.67 | 15.35 | 18.41 | 22.08 | 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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