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A Complete Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky
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public Observing fromLocation: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt
north SunriseRise: 7:44  
clear_day Transit: 11:48  
SunsetSet: 15:51 south
sunny DaytimeWhat's Visible Now?
Space Probes » 

Voyager 2

Altitude: -20.5°   Azimuth: 176.0°   Direction: South

Voyager 2 is an unmanned space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977, just a few weeks before its sister craft Voyager 1. Its mission was to study the outer planets of our solar system, including Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. It was the first and only spacecraft to visit all four planets, and its observations revolutionized our understanding of these distant worlds. After completing its primary mission, Voyager 2 continued on its journey into interstellar space, where it is still sending back data on the interstellar medium and the heliosphere. Voyager 2 is currently the second most distant human-made object from Earth, after its sister craft Voyager 1, and continues to be in communication with NASA's Deep Space Network.

Voyager 2 is currently in the constellation of Pavo.

The current Right Ascension of Voyager 2 is 20h 07m 38s and the Declination is -58° 53’ 56” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt).

20h 07m 38s
-58° 53’ 56”
Pavo

Today's rise, transit and set times of Voyager 2 from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Today Voyager 2 is not visible from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt

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.

Available Resources

Voyager 2 Position and Finder Charts

Below we provide Voyager 2 finder charts showing where the object is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars. The first finder chart has a field of view of 50 degrees, while the second one has a field of view of 10 degrees. Click on each finder chart to access a full screen interactive Online Planetarium.

Finder chart of Voyager 2 in Pavo on December,03 2023
Map showing Voyager 2 in Pavo on December, 03 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Finder chart of Voyager 2
Map showing Voyager 2 in Pavo on December, 03 2023
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Voyager 2 is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Voyager 2
RA: 20h 07m 38s
Dec: -58° 53’ 56”
Deep sky finder chart for Voyager 2
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

Also check out Where is Voyager 2?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Voyager 2 in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Voyager 2 Distance from Earth

The distance of Voyager 2 from Earth is currently 20,302,426,312 kilometers, equivalent to 135.713337 Astronomical Units. Light takes 18 hours, 48 minutes and 41.6046 seconds to travel from Voyager 2 and arrive to us.

20,302,426,312
135.713337
18 hours, 48 minutes and 41.6046 seconds

The following chart shows the distance of Voyager 2 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 Voyager 2 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 Voyager 2 from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Voyager 2 to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2099, the closest approach of Voyager 2 to Earth happens on Sun Jun 2 2013 at a distance of 101.162452 Astronomical Units, or 15,133,687,450 kilometers:

Sun Jun 2 2013
15,133,687,450
101.162452

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Visualization of Voyager 2 Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Voyager 2 with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Voyager 2 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!

Orbit Diagram of Voyager 2

Voyager 2 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Voyager 2 computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Voyager 2 in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2023 Nov 26 20h 07m 20s -58° 55’ 39” N.A. Pavo
2023 Nov 27 20h 07m 23s -58° 55’ 24” N.A. Pavo
2023 Nov 28 20h 07m 26s -58° 55’ 10” N.A. Pavo
2023 Nov 29 20h 07m 27s -58° 54’ 57” N.A. Pavo
2023 Nov 30 20h 07m 29s -58° 54’ 43” N.A. Pavo
2023 Dec 01 20h 07m 32s -58° 54’ 29” N.A. Pavo
2023 Dec 02 20h 07m 33s -58° 54’ 16” N.A. Pavo
2023 Dec 03 20h 07m 36s -58° 54’ 03” N.A. Pavo
2023 Dec 04 20h 07m 39s -58° 53’ 51” N.A. Pavo
2023 Dec 05 20h 07m 41s -58° 53’ 36” N.A. Pavo
2023 Dec 06 20h 07m 44s -58° 53’ 25” N.A. Pavo
2023 Dec 07 20h 07m 46s -58° 53’ 12” N.A. Pavo
2023 Dec 08 20h 07m 49s -58° 52’ 59” N.A. Pavo
2023 Dec 09 20h 07m 51s -58° 52’ 46” N.A. Pavo