The solar system, to scale
Fly around the Sun, eight planets and thirteen moons, drawn at true scale in their real positions for today.
The whole solar system, running in your browser: the Sun, the eight planets and thirteen of their moons, at their true sizes, in their real positions for today, with the true distances between them. Nothing is enlarged to make it easier to find, which is the compromise every printed diagram makes first.
Click a destination and the camera crosses to it, or hold the thrust pedal and fly there yourself. Wind the clock up to ten thousand times real speed and everything still moves at its true rate: moons circle their planets in minutes, Jupiter visibly spins, and Uranus rolls along on its side. From Neptune, the Sun is just the brightest star in the sky.
Positions come from JPL’s planetary tables, which are fitted for 1800 to 2050; outside those years they cannot be trusted, so the clock stops there.