The Solar System in 3D — Planets Where They Are Now

An interactive Solar System model where the planets stand where they really are right now, rather than spinning for decoration. You can rotate the scene, pick a planet and see its current distance from the Sun and from Earth, the light delay, apparent brightness, the length of its day and year, its number of moons and what you would weigh on its surface. A separate panel computes planetary alignments — how tightly the five naked-eye planets are gathered and when they will next converge.

How to use it

1
Rotate the scene

Drag with the mouse or a finger to change the viewing angle, scroll to zoom. Clicking a planet opens its data.

2
Switch the scale

"By order" fits all eight planets into the frame. "True distance" shows the real proportions — and makes the emptiness of the outer system obvious.

3
Move through time

The arrows step a month at a time and "Play" sets the planets moving. "Now" returns to the present moment.

4
Check the alignment

The right-hand panel shows how tightly the five naked-eye planets are gathered now, and the dates of the closest upcoming gatherings.

See where the planets actually are at this moment

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Planetary alignment

Spread of the five naked-eye planets now: —

Planet positions from astronomy-engine (validated against JPL ephemerides). "Straight-line travel" is a rough estimate at 20 km/s along a straight line; a real transfer follows a curve and depends on the launch window, so actual missions take different times. Reference figures (radius, day, moons) come from NASA catalogues.

What makes it different

Planets sit at their real current positions, using the same ephemerides as our Moon and eclipse tools
An honest scale switch: "True distance" shows the real proportions of the orbits, and the page states plainly what is distorted in each mode
The distance to Mars is taken for today rather than averaged from a reference book — over a synodic period it changes more than sevenfold
Alignments are computed from the spread of ecliptic longitudes rather than retold from the news, with the closest gatherings for four years ahead
Your weight and the length of a day and a year on each planet — usually the whole reason people open a model like this
A planet can be picked with a button, not only by clicking the scene, so the data works without 3D graphics

Frequently asked questions

What are the planets in order from the Sun?

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. The first four are small and rocky, the rest are gas and ice giants. Pluto has been classed as a dwarf planet since 2006, so it is not part of the eight.

How far is Mars right now?

Select Mars — the distance is shown for the current date in astronomical units and in millions of kilometres. Note that the average figure from a reference book is almost always wrong for today: the Earth–Mars distance ranges from roughly 55 to 400 million kilometres, more than a sevenfold change.

How long does it take to fly to Mars?

The tool gives a straight-line estimate at 20 km/s, which is an order of magnitude rather than a flight plan. Real missions follow a curved transfer and launch in a window that opens roughly every 26 months, so the trip takes about seven to nine months regardless of the separation on launch day.

What is a planetary alignment and when is the next one?

It is the moment when several planets gather within a narrow sector of the sky. There is no strict definition, so we compute the spread of ecliptic longitudes of the five naked-eye planets and show the upcoming minima. The smaller the spread, the tighter the group appears.

Why can I barely see anything in "True distance" mode?

Because that is how the Solar System is built. Fit Neptune’s orbit into the frame and Earth’s becomes thirty times smaller, collapsing the inner planets against the Sun. We show that honestly instead of drawing evenly spaced rings without a word of warning.

Are the planet sizes on the picture real?

No, and that is the one deliberate distortion in both modes. At a true scale next to the orbits, Earth would be smaller than a single pixel and the Sun a dot. So the spheres are enlarged, but their relative sizes keep the right order: the giants are visibly larger than the rocky planets.

Where do the planet positions come from?

From astronomy-engine, validated against JPL ephemerides. Accuracy is checked on measurable quantities: the maximum elongation of Mercury comes out at 27.8° and of Venus at 47.0°, matching the reference values.

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