Travel through Solar System time

NASA/JPL DATA · A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME

Solar System Explorer

Loading UTC UTCForward · 86,400× · Paused

Playback speed

Date, time & custom speed

UTC date and timeSigned speed multiplier

1900–2100 overview. Each JPL trajectory has its own returned interval. Future UTC assumes no additional leap seconds.

Preparing the Solar System…

Follow object Cinematic orbit

A real Solar System, at your chosen time. UTC · 86,400×True distances · physical radii ×12; minimum-pixel markers · 0 rendered / … catalogedDrag to orbit · scroll / pinch to zoom · middle button or two fingers to pan

MAJOR BODY

Earth

Loading calculated positions

Trajectory window

Custom trajectory interval

Start UTC dateEnd UTC date

The returned day-aligned sample interval is shown above. Resource limit: 366 days per request.

Amber: past · cyan dashes: future. Long overview arcs are approximate; JPL requests are limited to 366 days.

Gold / violet crosses show osculating two-body perihelion / aphelion, independently of a loaded JPL path.

The white arrow shows instantaneous forward-time heliocentric velocity, including during reverse playback.

Distance from Sun: Not published
Distance from Earth: Not published (same-epoch Earth)
Heliocentric speed: Not published

Planetary centres use the existing JPL DE441 bundle in 2020–2036. Other dates, the Moon and Pluto use the documented Astronomy Engine numerical overview. Load a selected JPL trajectory for a bounded interval. Sizes: NASA fact sheets; surface textures: credited on the data-sources page.

Scene & display

Display scaleQualityObject labelsPlanetary orbitsSelected trajectoryIllustrative comet tails

Comet tails point away from the Sun. Activity, colour and dust curvature are illustrative, not measured morphology.

Live browser capture uses the existing Video Studio formats and plan limits. Sign-in is required to create/export.

A clock selects a position

Playback changes the target ephemeris time. A wall-clock anchor makes forward and reverse playback independent of the number of rendered frames. Speed does not alter orbital velocities or apply fictional forces.

Three different accuracy states

Planetary centres use Tuduni’s existing validated JPL bundle from 2020 through the start of 2036. Other supported dates, the Moon and Pluto use Astronomy Engine’s numerical overview. Selected bounded Horizons vectors are interpolated only within their returned interval. Minor-body overview positions use published elements and a two-body approximation.

Time scales and boundaries

The interface accepts 1900–2100 UTC. Catalog epochs and CAD events use TDB. Modern conversion uses NAIF’s published leap seconds plus TT–TAI and the periodic TDB correction. Before 1972 the UT1/Delta-T conversion is modelled; future UTC assumes no additional leap seconds. JavaScript cannot represent a leap-second instant.

Future paths are predictions

The overview can calculate a conic far from its epoch, but perturbations and measurement uncertainty can make it unreliable. A JPL sample interval is a numerical coverage interval, not a statistical confidence interval. Read the source, solution date and uncertainty information before drawing conclusions.

From the cached JPL catalog

2,706 matching records in this bounded snapshot. Last fetched 2026-10-22.

Sources & scientific accuracy

NASA/JPL SBDB supplies catalog identities and orbital elements, Horizons supplies dated trajectories, and CAD supplies close-approach records. An encounter is a calculated passage, not an impact warning. Source dates, orbit solutions and available uncertainty fields are shown in the explorer.

Display radii, generic shapes and comet activity are illustrative. Read Tuduni’s time and accuracy guide or view data sources and credits.

External NASA/JPL documentation

These scientific references open external documentation in a new tab.