Pioneer 11 was a space probe launched by NASA in 1973 with the goal of studying the outer Solar System. It was the second spacecraft to flyby Jupiter and the first to visit Saturn. After completing its mission, Pioneer 11 continued to transmit data until 1995, when it became too weak to communicate with Earth. It is currently traveling through space in the direction of the constellation Aquila.
Pioneer 11 Position Calculator
Compute the position of Pioneer 11 for any date and time between 1 January 2013
and 31 December 2049
and visualize the results on an interactive sky map.
Pioneer 11 is in the constellation of
Scutum,
at a distance of 17,071,265,894.0 kilometers from Earth.
The current Right Ascension is
18h 59m 57s
and the Declination is -08° 41’ 36”
(apparent coordinates).
Sky map showing Pioneer 11 in Scutum on May, 13 2025.
Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive sky chart
High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Pioneer 11 is right now.
Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
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 11 from Earth is currently 17,071,265,894.0 kilometers,
equivalent to 114.1143641559Astronomical Units.
Light takes
15h 49m 3.614s to travel from Pioneer 11 and arrive to us.
17,071,265,894.0
114.1143641559
15h 49m 3.614s
The following chart shows the distance of Pioneer 11 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.
Chart of the distance of Pioneer 11 from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
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 Pioneer 11 from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the
Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest Approach
Between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2049,
the closest approach of
Pioneer 11 to Earth happens on
Mon Jun 10 2013 at a distance of
85.782159 Astronomical Units, or
12,832,828,327 kilometers:
Mon Jun 10 2013
12,832,828,327
85.782159
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed
with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Orbit Visualization
Orbit Diagram of Pioneer 11
15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Pioneer 11 computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval.
Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.
Compute the position of Pioneer 11 for any date and time between 1 January 2013
and 31 December 2049
and display the results on an interactive star map.
Additional Resources on TheSkyLive
Pioneer 11: Complete reference information on TheSkyLive.com