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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) | 129.664 | 107.882 | 128.419 | 154.422 | 51.525 | | Speed relative to Sun (km/s) | 11.913 | 11.195 | 15.305 | 16.952 | 13.837 | | Speed relative to Sun (AU/year) | 2.513 | 2.362 | 3.229 | 3.576 | 2.919 | | Ecliptic latitude | 3° | 14° | -37° | 35° | 2° | | Declination | 26° 0' | -8° 57' | -58° 44' | 12° 5' | -20° 31' | | Right ascension | 5h 13m | 18h 50m | 20h 0m | 17h 14m | 19h 9m | | Constellation | Taurus | Scutum | Pavo | Ophiuchus | Sagittarius | | Distance from Earth (AU) | 128.960 | 108.233 | 128.625 | 155.028 | 51.829 | | One-way light time (hours) | 17.88 | 15.00 | 17.83 | 21.49 | 7.18 | | 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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