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EXPLORE SPACE
Select a planet, follow its orbit and explore day and night in 3D.
Starts at 1 second = 1 day. Select from the left list; choose Solar System to return to the overview. Left drag orbits, right drag pans.
Select Earth → Watch rotation → Day–night boundary view. Follow point A at the equator.
Open Compare to place planets side by side at the same size scale, then compare their periods in the table.
Select a planet to approach · Left drag to orbit · Right drag to pan · Scroll / pinch to zoom
Solar System
| Choose a planet | Rotation period (Earth hours) | Orbital period (Earth years) | Orbital semi-major axis (AU) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,407.51 | 0.241 | 0.387 | |
| 5,832.43 | 0.615 | 0.723 | |
| 23.93 | 1 | 1 | |
| 24.62 | 1.881 | 1.524 | |
| 9.92 | 11.863 | 5.203 | |
| 10.66 | 29.447 | 9.537 | |
| 17.24 | 84.017 | 19.189 | |
| 16.11 | 164.791 | 30.07 |
1 AU = 149.6 million km. Cards show semi-major axes, not instantaneous distances.
Elapsed time
Orbital distances are spread out for visibility.
Close views emphasize the selected planet. Orbits reappear when returning to the overview.
The Sun is at the center of this model, with eight planets moving along their orbits. Sunlight and axial rotation produce each planet's day and night regions.
8 planets
4 rocky planets · 4 giant planets
Neptune's orbit ≈ 30 AU
This is the extent of the eight displayed planets, not the boundary of the Solar System.
Select a planet to explore its surface, day and night, and spin axis.
Select a planet to approach · Left drag to orbit · Right drag to pan · Scroll / pinch to zoom
All orbits run in the same direction when viewed from north of the Solar System plane. The small arrow around a planet shows its rotation.
Tilt is measured from the perpendicular to the orbital plane.
Place 2–3 planets side by side at their true relative sizes.
NASA/JPL · Science and image sources
Textures: Solar System Scope / INOVE · CC BY 4.0 · Resized and converted to WebP