The solar system right now — 3D on real orbits

A three-dimensional simulator that plays the orbital motion of planets, dwarf planets and comets from measured orbital elements, at whatever speed you set.

What is in the simulation

Eight planets, nine dwarf planets, nine asteroids, eight comets and twenty-three major moons all run along their own orbits. Added to them are the real flight paths of eighteen spacecraft, which leave a line showing which planet each one passed and when. Lunar missions and a total solar eclipse are reconstructed separately, so you can look down from outside on the moment the Sun, Earth and Moon line up. Every body carries both its orbit line and the trail it has already covered, so you see not just where it is but where it came from.

Controlling time and viewpoint

Turn the playback rate up and days pass in a second; reverse it and time runs backwards. Select a body and the camera rides along with it, which turns motions that are awkward to describe from a fixed vantage point into something simple to watch. Drag to rotate the viewpoint, and use the wheel or a pinch to close in on the inner orbits or pull back until Neptune's orbit fits on screen. If you would rather not touch anything, the cinematic tour sweeps through the solar system by itself. The simulator runs in a browser and works on phones as well.

How the orbits are computed

Positions for the planets and smaller bodies start from measured orbital elements and are approximated against the J2000 mean elements. Spacecraft follow recorded trajectory data instead. Because the method is an approximation, error accumulates the further you travel from the present in either direction, and it shows up first on comets, whose orbits swing hardest. This is a teaching and reference tool, so pair it with official data from NASA or an equivalent source when the numbers themselves matter.

When to open it

The difference between orbital periods lands faster when you watch Jupiter complete a single lap while Earth finishes twelve, all inside a few seconds, than it does as a pair of numbers. Follow a comet and you see it speed up near the Sun and slow again as it climbs away; follow a spacecraft and it becomes clear why it loops around a planet rather than heading straight for its target. It also works well as a single live scene to talk over in a class or a presentation. Any body you select has a fuller description in the object encyclopedia, and recent events are covered in the sky news section.

Look it up here

• Where are the planets in their orbits at this moment? It opens at the current time with all eight planets at their real places on their orbits; press play and they keep moving. Show it here →
• How are Jupiter's four Galilean moons lined up right now? It follows Jupiter at a 0.03 AU frame, so Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto show where they are right now. Show it here →
• Where is Mars on its orbit right now? Mars runs its 1.52 AU orbit in 687 days, and the view tracks where it sits on that path right now. Show it here →
• Where is Voyager 1 right now? Voyager 1 launched in 1977, moves about 17 km per second, and is now roughly 170 AU from the Sun. Show it here →
• What has Voyager 2 passed on its way out? Voyager 2 passed Neptune in 1989 and crossed the heliopause in 2018; the view follows that whole track. Show it here →
• How do Jupiter's Galilean moons orbit? Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto circle Jupiter at different speeds, and the view plays their four orbits together. Show it here →
• How are Saturn's moons arranged around it? Saturn takes about 29 years per lap while Titan and its other moons wheel around outside the rings. Show it here →
• When does Halley's Comet come back? Halley comes back on a roughly 76-year cycle, and its next perihelion falls in 2061. Show it here →
• When does Europa Clipper arrive at Jupiter? Europa Clipper launched in 2024 and reaches Jupiter in 2030; the view traces its cruise path along the way. Show it here →
• Why is Pluto's orbit so unusual? Pluto circles at an average 39.5 AU over 248 years on a path tilted 17 degrees out of the planetary plane. Show it here →
• How long does the Moon take to circle Earth? The Moon laps Earth every 27.3 days from an average 380,000 km, and the pair travels around the Sun together. Show it here →

Things to try

At light speed, by rocket, by car — journeys computed from real positions and speeds. Every item below is a custom-journey link.

• 💡Across the Solar System at light speedWhen light from the Sun crosses each orbit — Earth in 8 min, Jupiter 43 min, Neptune 4 h.
• 🦸Superman from Earth to MarsAt 99% of light speed, a few minutes to twenty — depending on where the planets are now.
• ✈Earth to Mars by airlinerAt 900 km/h it takes years — close to a decade even at closest approach.
• 🚀Earth to Mars on a Starship-class rocketA straight run at 40,000 km/h takes two or three months; real missions follow an orbit for 6–9.
• 🚗Earth to the Sun by carAt 100 km/h without stopping, about 170 years.
• 🚲Earth to Venus by bicycleAt 20 km/h, well over 200 years — at closest approach.
• 🛰To Neptune at New Horizons' speedAt 58,000 km/h about nine years from the Sun; the real Pluto trip took nine and a half.
• 🌞Sun to Earth at Parker's top speedAt 690,000 km/h about nine days — light does it in eight minutes.
• 📡Calling Voyager 1 — a signal round tripA radio signal from Earth takes about 23 hours to reach Voyager 1, and the reply another 23 hours.
• 📡Calling Voyager 2 — a signal round tripAbout 19 hours out to Voyager 2 and roughly 38 hours for the round trip.

Make your own: the custom-journey grammar (cj=) puts a name, up to 10 stops, a speed per leg and arrival captions into one link — see llms.txt. In the 3D map the ✈ button opens a visual editor that turns selected bodies into stops (Pro plan).

FAQ

Can I watch the planets orbit in real time?

Left at real speed the planets look essentially frozen, so raising the rate until days or months pass per second is usually more useful. Keep the rate low to follow the inner planets and push it up when you want an outer body such as Neptune to finish a lap while you watch.

Are spacecraft trajectories included?

Eighteen spacecraft are included with their real flight paths. Select one and the route it has already flown stays drawn behind it, so you can follow which planets it passed and in what order after launch. Lunar missions are reconstructed as their own scenes.

Can I go back to a past date?

Yes, time runs backwards as well as forwards, so past configurations can be replayed. Keep in mind that the positions are approximations from orbital elements, so they drift further from reality the further back you go, and comets drift the most.

→ Keep reading in the object index → Sky news