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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) | 125.731 | 104.210 | 123.449 | 148.829 | 46.953 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.931 | 11.221 | 15.323 | 16.965 | 13.958 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.517 | 2.367 | 3.232 | 3.579 | 2.944 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -37° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 25° 55' | -8° 48' | -58° 10' | 12° 17' | -20° 18' | | Right ascension | 5h 9m | 18h 54m | 20h 5m | 17h 15m | 19h 16m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 126.154 | 104.202 | 123.532 | 148.453 | 47.013 | | One-way light time (hours) | 17.49 | 14.44 | 17.12 | 20.58 | 6.52 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -16.2 | -16.6 | -16.2 | -15.8 | -18.3 | | 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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