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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) | 131.118 | 109.239 | 130.259 | 156.491 | 53.209 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.907 | 11.186 | 15.299 | 16.948 | 13.798 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.512 | 2.360 | 3.227 | 3.575 | 2.911 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -37° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 25° 56' | -8° 44' | -58° 56' | 12° 26' | -20° 13' | | Right ascension | 5h 11m | 18h 54m | 20h 7m | 17h 15m | 19h 17m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 132.105 | 108.457 | 129.677 | 155.677 | 52.449 | | One-way light time (hours) | 18.31 | 15.03 | 17.97 | 21.58 | 7.27 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -16.1 | -16.5 | -16.1 | -15.7 | -18.1 | | 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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