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Where is Voyager relative to me right now in realtime?

called2voyage
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John Smith
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  • https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/#where_are_they_now may or may not be helpful, as may or may not http://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/13488/ -- I wouldn't object to a voyager1 and voyager2 tag if no one else objects. –  Aug 18 '18 at 13:43
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    This is a question of space exploration, which is why the tag doesn't exist. – James K Aug 18 '18 at 14:52
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    No, the Voyagers are 35 and 36 degrees north and south of the ecliptic. – Mike G Aug 18 '18 at 19:41
  • @MikeG Wow, how could it then visit the outer planets? – peterh Aug 18 '18 at 21:10
  • @peterh Please don't write additional questions in the comment section. If you have a space exploration question, please visit that stack exchange and ask. – James K Aug 18 '18 at 22:06
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it belongs on Space.SE –  Aug 19 '18 at 12:54

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TheSkyLive has charts showing the positions of a few interplanetary spacecraft in the sky for a given time and place on Earth. Their positions for Voyagers 1 and 2 agree with the authoritative JPL HORIZONS, which can generate a table of equatorial coordinates for a range of dates.

Voyager 1 is in northern Ophiuchus. This is in the August evening sky for most of the Earth. As of August 2018, it is 143 AU away from the Sun and receding 3.6 AU/year. Voyager 2 is in northern Pavo, in the September evening sky for the tropics and southern hemisphere. Its current distance from the Sun is 118 AU, receding 3.2 AU/year.

Since both probes are so far away (compare Neptune at 30 AU) and moving away from the Sun, their apparent positions among the stars will not change much in the next few years. Of course they are not visible in any telescope, and a very large dish is needed to receive their radio transmissions.

If you like using desktop planetarium software, you can try importing hyperbolic orbital elements for the Voyagers.

Mike G
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