3D Simulator: Planetary Revolutions

Using the Astronoo Interactive Simulator

Explore the Solar System in 3D as if from a spaceship. By default, the view is polar (above the north celestial pole), and time advances at 10 days per second. You can move forward or backward in time using the controls at the top and zoom in on the solar system without interrupting the planets' motion.

Controls and Navigation in the Simulation

The arrows at the bottom right allow you to orient the orbital planes, while the buttons at the bottom left adjust the visibility of orbits and information. The planets follow Kepler's second law (law of areas): they speed up near perihelion and slow down near aphelion. Distances (in millions of km) are visible via the aphelion/perihelion button.

Enable the asteroid belt, the habitable zone, the Kuiper belt, and dwarf planets via the dwarf planets button.

A click in the simulator reorients the view while maintaining the planets' rotation. Click again to lock the view and zoom in. Note that the apparent size of the planets increases as the camera gets closer.