Voyager Screensaver
The Voyager screensaver is a live tally of the two Voyager probes' distance from Earth and the one-way light-time to reach them, ticking outward as they sail through interstellar space. It's computed on your device, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.
How the Voyager screensaver works
The saver knows each Voyager's distance and speed and projects it forward to this exact moment, so the numbers climb in real time.
Voyager 1 is over 165 astronomical units out and Voyager 2 over 138 — each receding more than three AU every year.
It works out the one-way light-time too: how many hours a radio signal takes to reach the probe at light speed.
A small to-scale diagram shows the two craft heading out past the planets and the heliopause into interstellar space.
A worked example
The readouts tick upward — Voyager 1 at roughly 167.3 AU with a one-way light-time near 23h — the two probes, launched in 1977, still pulling farther from home every single second as they drift through interstellar space.
Settings & tips
- Accent recolours the readouts and trajectory.
- Background sets the deep-space color.
- The distances are computed locally, so it needs no connection.
Frequently asked questions
- Are the distances accurate?
- They're computed from each probe's known distance and recession rate, accurate to well within a fraction of a percent — close to NASA's live trackers.
- Does it need a connection?
- No. Everything is calculated on your device from the probes' trajectories, so it runs fully offline.
- What is one-way light-time?
- It's how long a radio signal travels from Earth to the probe at light speed — over 22 hours for Voyager 1, a sense of how far it really is.
- Are the Voyagers still working?
- Both still return data from interstellar space decades after launch, growing fainter and farther each year.
- Is it free?
- Yes — free, no download, no key, in your browser.