Planetarium: Solar System Simulation

Physical Constants

Name	Type	Mass	a	e	i (°)	Ω (°)	ω (°)	M₀ (°)

Simulation Equations

Simulation Controls

Action	Control
Start or stop the simulation	Pause/Resume
Increase simulation speed by 1 unit	T +
Decrease simulation speed by 1 unit	T -
Adjust simulation speed (-10 to +10 years/sec)	Time Scale Slider
Show/hide planet orbits (white)	Toggle Planet Orbits
Show/hide moon orbits (yellow)	Toggle Moon Orbits
Show/hide planet motion trails	Toggle Planet Trails
Show/hide moon motion trails	Toggle Moon Trails
Adjust scene brightness	Increase/Decrease Ambient
Increase/decrease planet sizes	Scale Planets/Decrease Scale
Reset to initial conditions	Restart Simulation
Cycle to Previous Celestial Body	, Key
Cycle to Next Celestial Body	. Key
Exit Focus Mode	Escape Key
Toggle atmosphere shells, auroras, storm lightning & sun flares (bare view)	0 Key

Orbital Controls

Action	Control
Toggle between Orbital/Flight modes	C Key
Rotate camera around target	Left-click + drag
Pan camera	Right-click + drag
Zoom in/out	Scroll wheel
Focus on a planet	Click Planet
Toggle planet/moon orbits	6 Key
Toggle planet/moon/asteroid trails	7 Key
Toggle target indicator	8 Key
Toggle vectors & axis	9 Key
Toggle atmospheres / effects	0 Key

Flight Controls

Action	Key
Toggle between Orbital/Flight modes	C Key
Pitch Up/Down + Yaw Left/Right	Mouse Down + Move
Pitch Down	↑ Key
Pitch Up	↓ Key
Yaw Left	← Key
Yaw Right	→ Key
Roll Left	A Key
Roll Right	Z Key
Increase Throttle by 25%	] Key
Decrease Throttle by 25%	[ Key
Increase Throttle by 5 units	+ Key
Decrease Throttle by 5 units	- Key
Increase Throttle by 1 unit	SHIFT +
Decrease Throttle by 1 unit	SHIFT -
Max Throttle	ENTER
Zero Throttle	BACKSPACE
Throttle Indicator	Shows current speed
Crosshair	Center screen reference point
Cycle to Previous Celestial Body	, Key
Cycle to Next Celestial Body	. Key
Exit Focus Mode	Escape Key
Focus on Celestial Body in Crosshairs	T Key
Toggle atmosphere shells, auroras, storm lightning & sun flares (bare view)	0 Key

Render Settings [saved via cookies]

Acknowledgements

NCSU - North Carolina State University College of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
Orbital Mechanics for Engineering Students 3rd Edition - Howard D. Curtis.
NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration, for planetary data, imagery, and scientific insights.
JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory, for precise orbital elements and physical constants.
Three.js Community - For the 3D rendering library that powers this simulation.
Solar System Scope - https://www.solarsystemscope.com for textures used on planets.
NASA Blue Marble Collection - https://visibleearth.nasa.gov/collection/1484/blue-marble for textures used on planets.
NASA Black Marble (Earth at Night) - https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/earth-at-night/maps/ for Earth night lights (2016 VIIRS composite).
Celestia Motherlode - http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/ for textures used on planets.
3D Textures from Various Artists - Runar Thorvaldsen, John van Vliet, maxim, Mattias Malmer, emazarico, Hermes, FarGetaNik, ngx

We express our gratitude to these organizations, individuals, and authors for their publicly available resources that made this project possible.

planetarium.Earth

v0.9.5 (beta)

Author: Jon Kakaley

X Handle: @JonKakaley

Support: This tool will always be available for free, however, if you like it and wish to support the hosting costs and developement effort - please consider subscribing to my handle on X.

Purpose: This simulation was created to visualize and explore the dynamics of our solar system. It aims to provide an interactive educational tool for enthusiasts, students, and researchers to understand celestial mechanics, planetary characteristics, and orbital behavior in a 3D environment. Built with Three.js, it combines real scientific data with an intuitive interface to foster curiosity and learning about space. It uses the two body assumption to simulate planetary motion in real-time.

Requirements: A modern web browser with WebGL 2.0 (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari on recent OS versions). Faster CPUs/GPUs will enable rendering at higher settings. The developement was tested on a MacBook Pro, Intel Core i9, 16GB RAM, and RADEON 5500M GPU.

Future Features: Visualization of Hohmann Transfer Orbits, N-body Dynamics, additional solar systems / galaxies, LLM integration for 1-click real time news on celestial bodies.

If you have feedback or would like to request a feature please feel free to engage me on X.

Getting Started with planaterium.Earth

Choose 3D Settings:

[Simulation settings are saved via cookies. Clearing cookies will always bring back the 'Getting Started' page.]

Do not show 'Getting Started' in the future

Navigate the Solar System

Use your mouse to explore: Left-click and drag to rotate around celestial bodies, right-click and drag to pan, and scroll to zoom in or out. Switch to flight mode with the 'C' key for a first-person experience.

Orbital Constants

Orbital Dynamics

Rotational Constants

Scientific Info

Atmosphere Composition

Description

Photographs