Pioneer 11
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 is currently in the constellation of Scutum, at a distance of 16,732,313,234 kilometers from Earth.
View interactive star map
Today's rise, transit and set times of Pioneer 11 from Greenwich, United Kingdom (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
- Pioneer 11 is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom.
- Right now it is placed in the East-South-East direction at an altitude of 1° 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 Pioneer 11 is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
Also check out Where is Pioneer 11?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Pioneer 11 in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Pioneer 11 Distance from Earth
The distance of Pioneer 11 from Earth is currently 16,732,313,234 kilometers, equivalent to 111.848606 Astronomical Units. Light takes 15 hours, 30 minutes and 12.9892 seconds to travel from Pioneer 11 and arrive to us.
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.
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 of Pioneer 11 to Earth
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:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Visualization of Pioneer 11 Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Pioneer 11 with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Pioneer 11 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!
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. Click on each row of the table to locate Pioneer 11 in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 Apr 26 | 18h 58m 15s | -08° 44’ 31” | N.A. | Scutum |
| 2024 Apr 27 | 18h 58m 15s | -08° 44’ 26” | N.A. | Scutum |
| 2024 Apr 28 | 18h 58m 14s | -08° 44’ 20” | N.A. | Scutum |
| 2024 Apr 29 | 18h 58m 14s | -08° 44’ 15” | N.A. | Scutum |
| 2024 Apr 30 | 18h 58m 13s | -08° 44’ 08” | N.A. | Scutum |
| 2024 May 01 | 18h 58m 13s | -08° 44’ 03” | N.A. | Scutum |
| 2024 May 02 | 18h 58m 11s | -08° 43’ 59” | N.A. | Scutum |
| 2024 May 03 | 18h 58m 10s | -08° 43’ 53” | N.A. | Scutum |
| 2024 May 04 | 18h 58m 09s | -08° 43’ 48” | N.A. | Scutum |
| 2024 May 05 | 18h 58m 09s | -08° 43’ 42” | N.A. | Scutum |
| 2024 May 06 | 18h 58m 08s | -08° 43’ 37” | N.A. | Scutum |
| 2024 May 07 | 18h 58m 06s | -08° 43’ 33” | N.A. | Scutum |
| 2024 May 08 | 18h 58m 05s | -08° 43’ 28” | N.A. | Scutum |
| 2024 May 09 | 18h 58m 05s | -08° 43’ 23” | N.A. | Scutum |