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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) | 126.117 | 104.570 | 123.936 | 149.377 | 47.403 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.930 | 11.218 | 15.322 | 16.964 | 13.945 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.517 | 2.366 | 3.232 | 3.578 | 2.942 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -37° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 25° 56' | -8° 43' | -58° 28' | 12° 26' | -20° 19' | | Right ascension | 5h 11m | 18h 53m | 20h 5m | 17h 14m | 19h 15m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 127.112 | 103.764 | 123.329 | 148.557 | 46.613 | | One-way light time (hours) | 17.62 | 14.38 | 17.09 | 20.59 | 6.46 | | 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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