Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to traverse the asteroid belt and make a flyby of Jupiter, providing valuable data on the gas giant and its moons. Launched on March 2, 1972, Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to achieve escape velocity from the Solar System and enter interstellar space. Its mission ended on March 31, 1997, after over 25 years of operation and communication with Earth. Pioneer 10 carried a plaque designed to serve as a message to any extraterrestrial life that might encounter the spacecraft in the future. The plaque depicted a man and a woman, along with various symbols and information about our location in the galaxy. Pioneer 10 has now traveled over 12 billion miles away from Earth.
Find it in the Sky
Chose a date & time and view the position of Pioneer 10 in the sky on our interactive planetarium.
In Evidence
Pioneer 10
Pioneer 10 is in the constellation of Taurus, at a distance of
Finder Charts
The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of Pioneer 10 in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.
The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of Pioneer 10 against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.
Equatorial Coordinates
Apparent
J2000
Additional Information
Rise and Set Times
The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of Pioneer 10 from Campalto, Italy (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/Rome):
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.
Distance from Earth
The distance of Pioneer 10 from Earth is currently
The following graph shows the distance of Pioneer 10 from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).
The value of the distance of Pioneer 10 from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.
Closest Approach to Earth
In the period between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2049, the closest approach of Pioneer 10 to Earth happened on Tuesday 1 January 2013 at a distance of 106.506795 Astronomical Units, or 15,933,189,771 kilometers:
Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Orbit Visualization
The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of Pioneer 10 relative to the other major objects in the Solar System.
15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Pioneer 10 computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 05 2025 | 05h 18m 22s | +26° 04’ 10” | N.A. | Taurus |
| Jul 06 2025 | 05h 18m 24s | +26° 04’ 12” | N.A. | Taurus |
| Jul 07 2025 | 05h 18m 26s | +26° 04’ 13” | N.A. | Taurus |
| Jul 08 2025 | 05h 18m 28s | +26° 04’ 15” | N.A. | Taurus |
| Jul 09 2025 | 05h 18m 29s | +26° 04’ 18” | N.A. | Taurus |
| Jul 10 2025 | 05h 18m 31s | +26° 04’ 20” | N.A. | Taurus |
| Jul 11 2025 | 05h 18m 33s | +26° 04’ 22” | N.A. | Taurus |
| Jul 12 2025 | 05h 18m 34s | +26° 04’ 25” | N.A. | Taurus |
| Jul 13 2025 | 05h 18m 36s | +26° 04’ 27” | N.A. | Taurus |
| Jul 14 2025 | 05h 18m 38s | +26° 04’ 29” | N.A. | Taurus |
| Jul 15 2025 | 05h 18m 39s | +26° 04’ 31” | N.A. | Taurus |
| Jul 16 2025 | 05h 18m 41s | +26° 04’ 34” | N.A. | Taurus |
| Jul 17 2025 | 05h 18m 42s | +26° 04’ 36” | N.A. | Taurus |
| Jul 18 2025 | 05h 18m 44s | +26° 04’ 38” | N.A. | Taurus |
Additional Resources on TheSkyLive
- Pioneer 10: Complete reference information on TheSkyLive.com.
- Where is Pioneer 10?: Key information on where to find Pioneer 10 in the sky.
- Distance of Pioneer 10 from Earth: Find out how far Pioneer 10 is from Earth right now.
- Rise and Set Times: Rise and set times of Pioneer 10 from your location.
- Interactive Sky Map: Planetarium-style interactive visualization of Pioneer 10's position in the sky.
- Live Position Tracker: High precision real time tracker of Pioneer 10's position using deep space imagery.
- Ephemeris: 15 days Pioneer 10's computed ephemeris.
- Orbit Visualization: 3D interactive visualization showing the orbit of Pioneer 10 with respect to the major Solar System objects.