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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) | 129.895 | 108.097 | 128.711 | 154.751 | 51.793 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.912 | 11.193 | 15.304 | 16.951 | 13.831 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.513 | 2.361 | 3.228 | 3.576 | 2.918 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -37° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 26° 0' | -9° 0' | -58° 36' | 12° 1' | -20° 29' | | Right ascension | 5h 12m | 18h 51m | 20h 1m | 17h 14m | 19h 11m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 128.927 | 108.883 | 129.303 | 155.550 | 52.565 | | One-way light time (hours) | 17.87 | 15.09 | 17.92 | 21.56 | 7.29 | | Brightness of Sun from spacecraft (Magnitude) | -16.1 | -16.5 | -16.2 | -15.8 | -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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