Our star
1.4 million km
Approximate diameter. A sphere of plasma, not a solid surface.
Experiment 01 / The observatory
Eight planets.
One remarkable star.
Take the long view. Then get a little closer.
A different kind of day
25–36 Earth days
One rotation: about 25 days at the equator, 36 near the poles.
A long story
4.6 billion years
Approximate time since the Sun formed from a collapsing cloud of gas and dust.
Beneath the glow
5,500°C
Approximate photosphere temperature. The core reaches about 15 million °C.
Earth / A closer look
Home, in layers.
Real mapped coastlines. Simulated weather. One companion. Earth & Moon opens on the sunlit side; drag to look around the surrounding solar system.
Preparing the Earth surface map.
The lunar texture loads when you explore Earth.
Region choices hold activity so you can inspect the geography; Wake activity resumes it. The Moon's size relative to Earth is approximately correct; its distance is compressed to keep the pair visible. Clouds and the 100-second lunar circuit are simulated—not current weather or today's lunar position. The atmospheric rim and cloud height are exaggerated slightly for visibility.
Choose a world to travel closer; click its globe again to reveal or hide discoveries. Drag to orbit. After focusing the canvas, use the mouse wheel or +/− to zoom, arrows to turn, Enter for discoveries, Space to pause everything, Escape for the whole system. Phones keep normal scrolling until Free touch rotation is enabled; use the zoom slider or +/− buttons. Selecting a world holds its orbit for reading. Reduced motion starts still.
COMPRESSED DISTANCES · SIZES EXAGGERATED Earth days elapsed
Inside our galaxy, not outside looking in. The Milky Way band suggests the surrounding galactic disk. This is an artistic all-sky backdrop, not a measured star chart; background stars are not destinations. NASA: our home galaxy ↗
The 3D scene needs JavaScript and WebGL2. All the science facts are available in the guide below.
Reload the observatory →Earth's natural satellite
The Moon
- Earth's companion
- 3,474.8 km
- The space between
- 384,400 km
- One circuit
- 27.3 Earth days
- A familiar face
- Synchronous rotation
Approximate lunar diameter, about 27% of Earth's diameter.
Mean distance between the centres of Earth and the Moon. The displayed orbit is compressed.
Approximate sidereal orbital period. The scene uses an independent, accelerated visual clock.
The Moon rotates once per orbit, keeping approximately the same hemisphere facing Earth.
Facts: NASA Moon Fact Sheet ↗. Colour map: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio / LROC CGI Moon Kit ↗. Eclipses, terrain relief and orbital perturbations are not simulated.
The star at the centre
The Sun
The heart of this little universe. Watch for eruptions from different regions, or travel closer and open its discoveries.
- Our star
- 1.4 million km
- A different kind of day
- 25–36 Earth days
- A long story
- 4.6 billion years
- Beneath the glow
- 5,500°C
Approximate diameter. A sphere of plasma, not a solid surface.
One rotation: about 25 days at the equator, 36 near the poles.
Approximate time since the Sun formed from a collapsing cloud of gas and dust.
Approximate photosphere temperature. The core reaches about 15 million °C.
Rocky planet
Mercury
- The world
- Rocky planet
- Mean distance from Sun
- 0.39 AU
- One trip around the Sun
- 88.0 days
- Across this world
- 4,879 km
A small world with a very short year. Watch how many laps it completes while Earth makes one.
57.9 million kilometres. One AU is approximately the Earth–Sun distance.
Orbital period in Earth days. That is about 0.24 Earth years.
Approximate equatorial diameter. Globe sizes are exaggerated. Surface patterns are artistic.
Rounded reference values from NASA's Planetary Fact Sheet ↗. These are not live measurements.
Rocky planet
Venus
- The world
- Rocky planet
- Mean distance from Sun
- 0.72 AU
- One trip around the Sun
- 224.7 days
- Across this world
- 12,104 km
Close to Earth in size, but not in conditions. Similar-looking numbers can hide very different worlds.
108.2 million kilometres. One AU is approximately the Earth–Sun distance.
Orbital period in Earth days. That is about 0.62 Earth years.
Approximate equatorial diameter. Globe sizes are exaggerated. Surface patterns are artistic.
Rounded reference values from NASA's Planetary Fact Sheet ↗. These are not live measurements.
Rocky planet
Earth
- The world
- Rocky planet
- Mean distance from Sun
- 1.00 AU
- One trip around the Sun
- 365.2 days
- Across this world
- 12,756 km
Our ocean world. Explore mapped continents, a separate simulated cloud layer, a thin atmospheric glow and our orbiting Moon.
149.6 million kilometres. One AU is approximately the Earth–Sun distance.
Orbital period in Earth days. That is about 1.00 Earth years.
Approximate equatorial diameter. Globe sizes are exaggerated. The surface uses a NASA geographic composite; clouds are simulated.
Rounded reference values from NASA's Planetary Fact Sheet ↗. These are not live measurements.
Earth's continents, coastlines and ocean colours use the historical NASA Blue Marble composite ↗, not generated geography. Credit: NASA/GSFC, Reto Stöckli, Robert Simmon and the MODIS teams. Earth's axial tilt ↗ is approximately 23.4°. Clouds, atmosphere and lighting are our illustrative rendering, not NASA weather data. No NASA endorsement is implied.
Rocky planet
Mars
- The world
- Rocky planet
- Mean distance from Sun
- 1.52 AU
- One trip around the Sun
- 687.0 days
- Across this world
- 6,792 km
A year here lasts almost two Earth years. Step forward a year and compare the two planets.
228.0 million kilometres. One AU is approximately the Earth–Sun distance.
Orbital period in Earth days. That is about 1.88 Earth years.
Approximate equatorial diameter. Globe sizes are exaggerated. Surface patterns are artistic.
Rounded reference values from NASA's Planetary Fact Sheet ↗. These are not live measurements.
Gas giant
Jupiter
- The world
- Gas giant
- Mean distance from Sun
- 5.20 AU
- One trip around the Sun
- 4,331.0 days
- Across this world
- 142,984 km
The largest planet in our system. Its long orbit makes the inner planets look wonderfully impatient.
778.5 million kilometres. One AU is approximately the Earth–Sun distance.
Orbital period in Earth days. That is about 11.86 Earth years.
Approximate equatorial diameter. Globe sizes are exaggerated. Surface patterns are artistic.
Rounded reference values from NASA's Planetary Fact Sheet ↗. These are not live measurements.
Gas giant
Saturn
- The world
- Gas giant
- Mean distance from Sun
- 9.57 AU
- One trip around the Sun
- 10,747.0 days
- Across this world
- 120,536 km
The ringed world. Even accelerated time feels different this far from the Sun.
1,432.0 million kilometres. One AU is approximately the Earth–Sun distance.
Orbital period in Earth days. That is about 29.43 Earth years.
Approximate equatorial diameter. Globe sizes are exaggerated. Surface patterns are artistic.
Rounded reference values from NASA's Planetary Fact Sheet ↗. These are not live measurements.
Ice giant
Uranus
- The world
- Ice giant
- Mean distance from Sun
- 19.16 AU
- One trip around the Sun
- 30,589.0 days
- Across this world
- 51,118 km
The outer system stretches the imagination. Switch to proportional distances to see the space between worlds.
2,867.0 million kilometres. One AU is approximately the Earth–Sun distance.
Orbital period in Earth days. That is about 83.76 Earth years.
Approximate equatorial diameter. Globe sizes are exaggerated. Surface patterns are artistic.
Rounded reference values from NASA's Planetary Fact Sheet ↗. These are not live measurements.
Ice giant
Neptune
- The world
- Ice giant
- Mean distance from Sun
- 30.18 AU
- One trip around the Sun
- 59,800.0 days
- Across this world
- 49,528 km
The most distant of the eight planets. Let one Neptune year pass and compare Earth's completed circuits.
4,515.0 million kilometres. One AU is approximately the Earth–Sun distance.
Orbital period in Earth days. That is about 163.75 Earth years.
Approximate equatorial diameter. Globe sizes are exaggerated. Surface patterns are artistic.
Rounded reference values from NASA's Planetary Fact Sheet ↗. These are not live measurements.
Closer still / The Sun portrait
Meet the star
behind the system.
Click the Sun to unfold four discoveries. Wake its surface, release a flare, or simply turn it in your hands.
SOL / An artistic portrait
A star.
Anything but still.
A MOMENT, HELDCLICK THE STAR TO DISCOVER
Our star
1.4 million km
Approximate diameter. A sphere of plasma, not a solid surface.
A different kind of day
25–36 Earth days
One rotation: about 25 days at the equator, 36 near the poles.
A long story
4.6 billion years
Approximate time since the Sun formed from a collapsing cloud of gas and dust.
Beneath the glow
5,500°C
Approximate photosphere temperature. The core reaches about 15 million °C.
The interactive portrait needs JavaScript and WebGL2. You can always read the Sun facts below and the planet guide above.
Reload the Sun to retry →Real 3D. Imagined intensity. Surface activity, colour and eruptions are an artistic interpretation, not live observations. Nothing plays until you choose.
Sun facts & source
- Our star
- 1.4 million km
- A different kind of day
- 25–36 Earth days
- A long story
- 4.6 billion years
- Beneath the glow
- 5,500°C
Approximate diameter. A sphere of plasma, not a solid surface.
One rotation: about 25 days at the equator, 36 near the poles.
Approximate time since the Sun formed from a collapsing cloud of gas and dust.
Approximate photosphere temperature. The core reaches about 15 million °C.
The idea behind the image
Make space
for a question.
Sometimes a moving picture makes a good question easier to ask. Why does Mercury race ahead? Where does most of the distance go?
More ideas from inside the box →A little science. A little imagination.
Orbital periods, mean distances and diameters come from NASA's Planetary Fact Sheet ↗; Sun discoveries from NASA's Sun facts ↗. Starting positions are illustrative, not the planets' locations today.
Uniform circular, coplanar planetary paths make this an educational orbital clock—not an N-body simulation or mission planner. Readable spacing compresses the gaps; Proportional distances uses one common planetary radius scale. Sun and planet sizes remain exaggerated in both. The Moon's displayed distance is always compressed separately.
Earth and Moon use locally hosted NASA geographic image composites; other surfaces remain original procedural art. Spins, weather, flares, ring appearance and the slow energy pulse are expressive, not physically timed observations. The Moon follows a simplified inclined circular orbit and rotates once per orbit. It uses ambient activity time rather than the planetary day counter. Other moons, dwarf planets and comets are not included yet.
Ambient activity starts gently unless you prefer reduced motion. Pause everything stops both clocks; offscreen and hidden scenes stop rendering. No location, account, third-party texture requests or AI calls are needed to explore.