Simulator 3D (positions of the planets)

Using the interactive simulator Astronoo:
With this simulator you will see the revolution of the planets from all angles and their alignment.
Initially it is "above" the solar system (this is a view from the north celestial pole) and the passage of time is set to 10 days per second, which allows you to see the turn planets in their orbits, but you can go into the future or go back in the past using the buttons above.
You can zoom in (upper right) inside the solar system while leaving the planets rotate.

With the arrows at the bottom right you can rotate the orbital planes of the planets and if you want more or less information, see more or less the orbits on the simulator screen, use the buttons at the bottom left.
* You will note that the planets have different speeds, they respect the law of areas of Johannes Kepler (1571-1630). Approaching the perihelion (closest point to the Sun), the planets speed, at the approach of the aphelion (furthest point from the Sun), they slow down. To view distances (million km), click the aphelion / perihelion.

Also play with the mouse:
Clicking in the simulator gives you a hand to redirect the solar system and obtain the desired view, the planets continue to orbit the Sun.
Click again to freeze and zoom the view.
* Warning, the planets are close to you and they are big.

Have a nice trip!

The formulas used in the simulator reflect the respective passages of the planets at their perihelion Ancient Greek peri (around, close) and hêlios (sun). This is the closest point Sun on the orbit of a planet or celestial object., inclinations In celestial mechanics, the inclination (i) of a planet is the rotation angle of the plane of its orbit and the plane of the ecliptic, that is to say the plane of the orbit of the earth., eccentricity The eccentricity (e) is the difference between the two distances are the aphelion and perihelion. eccentricity for the Earth is 0.01671022. orbits, argument of perihelion In celestial mechanics, the argument of perihelion is a property of the orbit. The argument of perihelion (ω) describes the angle between the direction of the ascending node and the perihelion. It is measured in the orbital plane and in the direction of movement of the body., speeds and ascending node orbital node is the intersection of an orbit and a reference plane. node ascendant is the point in the orbit where the object crosses the plane from bottom to top (south to north).. of the planets
Reference distances are from wikipedia.
All objects in the solar system have the same sense of revolution around the Sun.
This sense of revolution of the planets around the sun, said prograde, is the same as the direction of rotation of the Sun and planets themselves (except Venus and Uranus).
The prograde sense is the opposite direction clockwise, when viewed from the north pole system, that is to say when one has to "above" the plane of the ecliptic.

NB: on some views in the simulator, the orbits of Pluto and Neptune give the impression that they intersect, one could imagine that Pluto which orbit between 29-49 AU (symbol: AU) Founded in 1958, this is the unit of distance used to measure the distances of objects in the solar system, this distance is equal to the distance Earth to the Sun. The value of the astronomical unit is exactly 149 597 870 700 m during its General Assembly held in Beijing from 20 to 31 August 2012, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) adopted a new definition of the astronomical unit, unit of length used by astronomers world to express the dimensions of the solar system and the Universe. We retain about 150 million kilometers. A light-year is approximately 63 242 AU. Mercury: 0.38 AU, Venus 0.72 AU, Earth: 1.00 AU, March: 1.52 AU, asteroid belt: 2 to 3.5 AU, Jupiter 5.21 AU, Saturn: 9 , 54 AU, Uranus: 19.18 AU, Neptune: 30.11 AU, Kuiper Belt: 30 to 55 AU, the Oort Cloud: 50 000 AU. and Neptune (30 AU), one day enter into collision. But Pluto's orbit is so inclined that nowhere the two orbits are close to each other.
There is no chance that Pluto disappear in the heat of Neptune.
To have a clear mind about it, rotate the plane of rotation using the buttons at the bottom.

Majestically planets glide in their orbits around the Sun, leaving no trace seen of gravitational constraints that lead.
Yet an orbit is the path followed by a planet to meet the constraints of gravitational effects multiple heavenly bodies and in particular the sun.
In the solar system, all objects, planets, asteroids and comets move in the same direction around the Sun. But no orbit is perfectly circular or perfectly coplanar i.e. on the same plane around the equator of the central object.
If the orbits of planets have very low inclinations to the plane of the ecliptic, much less massive bodies as Pluto, Eris, asteroids or comets have orbits highly inclined to the plane.
Orbits have a perihelion Ancient Greek peri (around, close) and hêlios (sun). This is the closest point Sun on the orbit of a planet or celestial object. and aphelion Ancient Greek Apo (below) and hêlios (sun). This is the farthest point from the Sun to the orbit of a planet or celestial object. therefore eccentricity The eccentricity (e) is the difference between the two distances are the aphelion and perihelion. eccentricity for the Earth is 0.01671022. and an inclination In celestial mechanics, the inclination (i) of a planet is the rotation angle of the plane of its orbit and the plane of the ecliptic, that is to say the plane of the orbit of the earth., an ascending node orbital node is the intersection of an orbit and a reference plane. node ascendant is the point in the orbit where the object crosses the plane from bottom to top (south to north)., a vernal pointOn the celestial sphere, the equator and the ecliptic intersect. The apparent motion of the Sun crosses these two points called descending node and ascending node. When the sun passes over the equator, it crosses the vernal point or point the spring equinox. The ascending node is crossed between 20 and 22 March, while the point is passed down between 20 and 22 September. and an argument of perihelion In celestial mechanics, the argument of perihelion is a property of the orbit. The argument of perihelion (ω) describes the angle between the direction of the ascending node and the perihelion. It is measured in the orbital plane and in the direction of movement of the body..
Orbits of planets are all roughly in the same plane. The orbital plane is called the ecliptic we called the ecliptic great circle of the celestial sphere traversed by the Sun in its apparent motion around the earth. Describes the Earth around the Sun, an orbit whose plane makes an angle of 23 ° 27 'with the celestial equator (the projection of the equator). The Sun appears to move in and browsing the twelve signs of the zodiac: Aries, taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces..

NB: For the Sun we speak of Aphelion, the farthest point between the object and the Sun and the perihelion, the closest point. But more generally speaking of apsis which designate the two extreme points of the orbit of a celestial object. The point at the minimum distance from the center of the orbit is called periapsis.
The point at the maximum distance from the center of the orbit is called Apoapsis.
The main axis of the ellipse that connects the periapsis and apoapsis an orbit is called line of apsis.
The names of these points, the closest and farthest from the central object, specific name of the central object (Greek root of the name of the celestial object).