Solar System Explorer
Take control of our solar system. Speed up time, zoom in and out, and watch how gravity keeps every planet locked in orbit around the Sun. The closer a world sits to the Sun, the faster it has to travel to stay in its lane.
How it works
Every planet is falling towards the Sun and missing. Gravity pulls it inwards while its sideways speed carries it past — the balance of the two traces an orbit.
Planets close to the Sun feel a stronger pull, so they must move faster to stay in orbit. Mercury laps the Sun every 88 days; Neptune needs 165 Earth years.
Drag the time slider to compress centuries into seconds and see that difference for yourself.
Fun facts
Jupiter is so big that every other planet combined could fit inside it.
A year on Mercury lasts just 88 Earth days.
Saturn's rings are billions of separate chunks of ice and rock.
The Sun holds more than 99% of all the mass in the solar system.