Voyager 1
Voyager 1 is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, to study the outer Solar System and beyond. It is currently the most distant human-made object from Earth, having traveled over 14 billion miles (23 billion kilometers) from the Sun. Voyager 1's mission has included flybys of Jupiter and Saturn, with the goal of studying their moons, rings, and magnetic fields. The probe is now traveling through the heliosheath, the outermost layer of the Sun's heliosphere, and is expected to enter interstellar space in the coming years. Voyager 1 carries a golden record that contains sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, in the event that it is ever encountered by extraterrestrial life.
Voyager 1 is currently in the constellation of Ophiucus, at a distance of 24,337,228,091 kilometers from Earth.
View interactive star map
Today's rise, transit and set times of Voyager 1 from Greenwich, United Kingdom (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
- Voyager 1 is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom.
- Right now it is placed in the East-South-East direction at an altitude of 32° above the horizon.
- Go to interactive sky chart
If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.
Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Voyager 1 is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
Also check out Where is Voyager 1?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Voyager 1 in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Voyager 1 Distance from Earth
The distance of Voyager 1 from Earth is currently 24,337,228,091 kilometers, equivalent to 162.684321 Astronomical Units. Light takes 22 hours, 33 minutes and 0.2547 seconds to travel from Voyager 1 and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Voyager 1 from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.
The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of Voyager 1 from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest Approach of Voyager 1 to Earth
Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2099, the closest approach of Voyager 1 to Earth happens on Mon Apr 22 2013 at a distance of 123.348498 Astronomical Units, or 18,452,672,648 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Visualization of Voyager 1 Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Voyager 1 with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Voyager 1 and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!
Voyager 1 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Voyager 1 computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Voyager 1 in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 May 10 | 17h 15m 47s | +12° 22’ 59” | N.A. | Ophiucus |
| 2024 May 11 | 17h 15m 44s | +12° 23’ 08” | N.A. | Ophiucus |
| 2024 May 12 | 17h 15m 43s | +12° 23’ 14” | N.A. | Ophiucus |
| 2024 May 13 | 17h 15m 42s | +12° 23’ 21” | N.A. | Ophiucus |
| 2024 May 14 | 17h 15m 42s | +12° 23’ 29” | N.A. | Ophiucus |
| 2024 May 15 | 17h 15m 39s | +12° 23’ 35” | N.A. | Ophiucus |
| 2024 May 16 | 17h 15m 38s | +12° 23’ 43” | N.A. | Ophiucus |
| 2024 May 17 | 17h 15m 38s | +12° 23’ 48” | N.A. | Ophiucus |
| 2024 May 18 | 17h 15m 37s | +12° 23’ 54” | N.A. | Ophiucus |
| 2024 May 19 | 17h 15m 34s | +12° 24’ 02” | N.A. | Ophiucus |
| 2024 May 20 | 17h 15m 33s | +12° 24’ 06” | N.A. | Ophiucus |
| 2024 May 21 | 17h 15m 33s | +12° 24’ 12” | N.A. | Ophiucus |
| 2024 May 22 | 17h 15m 30s | +12° 24’ 19” | N.A. | Ophiucus |
| 2024 May 23 | 17h 15m 29s | +12° 24’ 24” | N.A. | Ophiucus |