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233,000 miles from Earth tonight, while the New Horizon spacecraft lies over 9,600 times the moon's distance from Earth.
• Spacecraft escaping the Solar System
• First, look at our chart. See the empty spot next to the words New Horizon? That spot marks the site of the spacecraft on tonight's sky dome. If you look at tonight's moon, you'll be looking in the general direction. We've also drawn in the Teapot star formation in the western half of the constellation Sagittarius to help you find the spacecraft's location in our sky. These stars in Sagittarius might or might not be visible in the moonlit glare tonight, but they are

helpful for envisioning the general location of Pluto, or New Horizons, in front of the constellation Sagittarius. The New Horizons spacecraft and Pluto will remain in front of Sagittarius until New Horizons finally meets up with Pluto in July 2015. So if you can spot these stars, you can gaze at them for several years while contemplating New Horizons' long journey.
• Where is New Horizons now in space? The image to the right shows the craft's whereabouts from another perspective - looking down on the solar system - as it was on September 22, 2012. For a new chart, showing New Horizons' place in space tonight, click here.
• At present, New Horizons resides over 24 times the Earth's distance from the sun. Pluto lies at 32 times the Earth/sun distance. The spacecraft travels about 3.4 times the Earth/sun distance closer to Pluto yearly.
• Now flip your perspective again, and go back to the chart at the top of this page. It's tough to flip perspectives like this. But it's fun to try.
• And, most of all, go outside tonight - September 23, 2012 - and gaze toward the moon. Let tonight's moon guide you in your imagination to Pluto-bound New Horizons' place in the starry sky.
• How was Pluto discovered?
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