|
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) | 131.989 | 110.052 | 131.361 | 157.731 | 54.216 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.903 | 11.180 | 15.295 | 16.945 | 13.775 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.511 | 2.359 | 3.227 | 3.575 | 2.906 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -38° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 26° 1' | -8° 55' | -59° 4' | 12° 11' | -20° 27' | | Right ascension | 5h 14m | 18h 51m | 20h 1m | 17h 14m | 19h 10m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 131.663 | 109.970 | 131.210 | 158.039 | 54.067 | | One-way light time (hours) | 18.25 | 15.24 | 18.19 | 21.91 | 7.49 | | 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 |
|
|