Last updated: March 2026
What Is the Solar System Explorer?
The Solar System Explorer is an interactive educational tool that lets you visualize our solar system in motion. At its core is an animated orrery — a model showing all eight planets orbiting the Sun with proportionally accurate speeds.
Each planet is rendered with its correct relative size, color, and orbital period. Mercury zips around the Sun in 88 Earth days, while Neptune takes over 60,000 days to complete a single orbit. Saturn's famous ring system is visible as a tilted ellipse around the golden planet.
Click any planet to open a detailed information panel showing diameter, mass, distance from the Sun, orbital period, day length, surface temperature, atmospheric composition, number of moons, gravity, and fun facts. All data comes from NASA and the International Astronomical Union.
How It Works
The Orrery View shows the Sun at center with planets orbiting at their correct relative speeds. Use the speed slider (1x to 1000x) to accelerate time and watch orbital mechanics in action. Toggle labels, orbit lines, and dwarf planets on or off.
Size Comparison Mode lines up all eight planets side by side at their relative scale. This view makes the dramatic size differences instantly clear — Jupiter alone is larger than all other planets combined.
The Distance Calculator lets you pick any two bodies (including the Sun and dwarf planets) and see the distance between them in kilometers, miles, and light-travel time. It also shows fun equivalents: how long it would take driving at 60 mph, flying in an airplane, or traveling at the speed of light.
The tool is designed for students, teachers, and anyone curious about our cosmic neighborhood. It runs entirely in your browser with no downloads, accounts, or installations required.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the planet sizes and distances accurate?
Yes. All planet data (diameter, mass, orbital period, distance from the Sun, temperature, atmosphere composition, and moon counts) comes from NASA and IAU sources. Planet sizes in the orrery view are proportional to each other but not to orbital distances — if they were, the inner planets would be invisible dots.
Why isn't Pluto shown by default?
Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union because it hasn't 'cleared the neighborhood' around its orbit. You can toggle dwarf planets on to see Pluto, Ceres, and Eris alongside the eight major planets.
Can I use this for school or teaching?
Absolutely. This tool is designed for education and is completely free with no signup required. The orrery demonstrates orbital mechanics, the size comparison shows relative scale, and the distance calculator makes vast distances tangible with real-world equivalents.
Why do inner planets move so much faster?
This reflects real orbital mechanics described by Kepler's Third Law. Planets closer to the Sun have shorter orbital periods and move faster. Mercury completes an orbit in 88 days, while Neptune takes over 164 Earth years.
What does the speed slider do?
At 1x speed, Earth would take 365 real seconds to complete one orbit. The slider lets you speed up time by up to 1000x, making it easy to watch the outer planets complete their much longer orbits.
How are the distances in the Distance Calculator measured?
Distances shown are the average distance between each body's orbit and the Sun. In reality, the actual distance between two planets constantly changes as they orbit. The calculator shows the difference in their average orbital radii, which gives a useful approximation for educational purposes.