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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) | 131.647 | 109.733 | 130.928 | 157.244 | 53.820 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.905 | 11.183 | 15.297 | 16.946 | 13.784 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.511 | 2.359 | 3.227 | 3.575 | 2.908 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -38° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 25° 59' | -8° 48' | -59° 10' | 12° 21' | -20° 23' | | Right ascension | 5h 14m | 18h 52m | 20h 3m | 17h 14m | 19h 12m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 132.144 | 108.944 | 130.236 | 156.876 | 52.969 | | One-way light time (hours) | 18.32 | 15.10 | 18.05 | 21.74 | 7.34 | | 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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