Explore the Solar System in 3D

Open and navigate

Open Astronomy tools with the telescope icon in the top bar, then choose Solar System in 3D. On a desktop, the companion window places its settings in a fixed left-hand panel and the model in the larger right-hand area. On a narrower screen, the controls and model stack vertically.

Drag with a pointer to rotate; use the mouse wheel, a trackpad or a two-finger pinch to zoom. Dragging vertically tilts the orbital plane from the starting perspective towards a face-on 2D view or a near edge-on view, but stops before the model can be turned upside down. Once the model has focus, arrow keys rotate it and +/− zoom it. Reset view restores the starting angle and zoom.

Independent simulation time

The model opens at the main sky map’s selected date and time. The Day, Month and Year controls in the Simulation time panel move only the 3D model backward or forward. This makes it possible to compare planetary arrangements without changing the date, time or local-sky view on the main map.

The panel identifies whether the model is showing Map time or a separate simulation time. Choose Reset to map time to return immediately to the date and time currently selected on the sky map.

Overview, animation and speed

Overview compresses orbital distances so Mercury through Neptune stay readable on one screen. Switch it off to return to the default view, where relative heliocentric distances are preserved. Planet markers are deliberately enlarged in both modes; the real diameters would otherwise be too small to see at that scale.

Animate orbits starts a visual time acceleration inside the 3D model and changes to Pause while it is running. Speed cycles the animation multiplier. Animation only changes the companion view; it does not touch the date and time on the main sky map.

Positions and paths

Planet positions and their inclined elliptical paths are calculated locally in the browser from the same low-precision orbital approach used by the sky map. That makes the view good for understanding order, separation and orbital geometry, and unsuitable for deriving a precision ephemeris.

Ecliptic reference directions

The dashed lines make the model easier to orient without turning it into a technical ephemeris display. They form a conventional Sun-centred ecliptic reference frame: VE marks the direction of the vernal equinox, SS the summer solstice, AE the autumnal equinox and WS the winter solstice. In this frame, VE is the zero-longitude direction; the other three points are successive quarter-turns around the ecliptic plane. The guide is drawn at a fixed readable size as you zoom, so its displayed length is not an orbital-distance scale.

The full Z line passes through the Sun. Its positive end points to the north ecliptic pole and its opposite end to the south ecliptic pole, perpendicular to the ecliptic plane. It is not the Sun’s rotation axis, the north celestial pole, your local zenith or a compass bearing. It is simply the third axis that lets you judge whether a planetary orbit is above or below the ecliptic plane.

Use the labels to compare geometry, not to predict visibility by themselves. The reference directions do not move when the selected date changes; planets move relative to them. The seasonal names refer to the conventional Northern Hemisphere naming of the March and September equinoxes and June and December solstices. In the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons experienced on the ground are reversed.

The terminology and seasonal context follow the U.S. Naval Observatory’s seasons reference. The use of the vernal-equinox direction and positive ecliptic-north Z axis follows the coordinate-system conventions described by NASA Goddard. Sky Map 2000 draws these as educational reference lines; its planetary positions remain a low-precision browser-side model, with the limits described in data and accuracy.