Where is pioneer

In December , after successfully negotiating the asteroid belt and a distance of million miles, Pioneer 10 reached Jupiter and sent back to Earth the first close-up images of the spectacular gas giant. NASA officially ended the Pioneer 10 project on March 31, , with the spacecraft having traveled a distance of some six billion miles. Headed in the direction of the Taurus constellation, Pioneer 10 will pass within three light years of another star—Ross —in the year 34, A.

The plaque, intended for intelligent life forms elsewhere in the galaxy, was designed by astronomer Carl Sagan. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Several government buildings were destroyed, prisoners were released, and a judge was beheaded along with several dozen other leading President Lyndon B. Johnson appoints U. Two days later, he If you find this website useful please consider a small donation, it will help covering hosting costs.

Thank you! If you have any feedback, please get in contact. Space Probes ». Constellation Taurus. See also Pioneer 10 rise and set times.

Go to interactive sky chart. Position and finder charts see also Where is Pioneer 10? Distance from Earth see also How far is Pioneer 10 from Earth? Rise and set times see also When does Pioneer 10 rise and set? Interactive orbit visualization. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Pioneer 10 for the past and next 7 days. Until Feb. The spacecraft returned its last telemetry data April 27, , and less than a year later, on Jan. That signal took 11 hours and 20 minutes to reach Earth.

By Nov. The spacecraft is generally heading in the direction of the red star Aldebaran which forms the eye of the Taurus constellation. It is expected to pass by Aldebaran in about two million years. Pioneer 10 is heading out of the solar system in a direction very different from the two Voyager probes and Pioneer 11, i. In case its intercepted by intelligent life, Pioneer 10 carries an aluminum plaque with diagrams of a man and a woman, the solar system, and its location relative to 14 pulsars.

The expectation is that intelligent beings would be able to interpret the diagram to determine the position of the Sun— and thus, Earth— at the time of launch relative to the pulsars.

Siddiqi, Asif A. What was Pioneer 10? Originally designed for a month mission to fly by Jupiter, Pioneer 10 lasted more than 30 years. However, if they continue on, Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11 and NASA's New Horizons craft are all expected to leave the sun's sphere of influence, called the heliosphere , and continue exploring through the interstellar medium.

Eventually, these spacecraft will run out of power and "die"; their science equipment will stop working, and they will stop communicating. In fact, Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 sent their last transmissions in and , respectively. Though these craft can no longer transmit signals to Earth, researchers have figured out which stars the vehicles will pass long after they cease to be operational.

These calculations are tricky, because as these spacecraft travel away from Earth, the cosmos around them move, too. Coryn A. In the new study, Bailer-Jones and Farnocchia calculated that the next star that Voyager 1 will pass will be Earth's nearest stellar neighbor, Proxima Centauri , in 16, years.

However, this encounter will be unremarkable, as the craft's closest approach will be 1.