|
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) | 123.558 | 102.180 | 120.706 | 145.740 | 44.413 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.942 | 11.236 | 15.334 | 16.972 | 14.035 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.519 | 2.370 | 3.235 | 3.580 | 2.961 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -37° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 25° 55' | -8° 42' | -58° 10' | 12° 26' | -20° 21' | | Right ascension | 5h 10m | 18h 52m | 20h 4m | 17h 14m | 19h 14m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 124.523 | 101.444 | 120.163 | 144.939 | 43.700 | | One-way light time (hours) | 17.26 | 14.06 | 16.66 | 20.09 | 6.06 | | 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 |
|
|