A universe
within reach.
Travel between worlds. Discover the forces, shadows and stories that connect our Solar System.
ORBITAL · A JOURNEY THROUGH SCALE
One galaxy.
A small place in a vast universe.
True size & distance ratios. Space is mostly empty.
Worlds may be
invisible: select a name to approach.
Explore
LOOK BEYOND YOUR WORLD
The night sky.
About this sky
Offline Yale bright-star coordinates, precession and approximate sidereal rotation. Earth planets use the dated JPL two-body model; the Moon uses an approximate dated orbit; Europa and Pluto use illustrative phases. Other-world views are conceptual orbital vantage points, without a surface horizon. Stellar parallax/proper motion, refraction, extinction, nutation, light-time and disk phases are omitted. Tiny world markers are enlarged; larger disks preserve angular size. Band brightness, colors, textures and constellation stick figures are illustrative.
Yale / CDS star catalog ↗USNO · sidereal time ↗ Dated Moon model · Schlyter ↗TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME
Experiences.
Sound & ambience Optional · off by default
A synthetic cinematic score and quiet interface tones. This is an artistic soundtrack; space itself is not carrying these sounds.
Sound is off.
Follow a story through space. Take control at any moment.
Keep a view on this device, or copy a link that restores it.
This link contains the view and entered observer coordinates. It works on a host serving this project. Saved views stay on this device.
Sky and eclipse settings are included. Animated tours and the Light Journey are not replayed by a view link.
COMPOSE A VIEW
Photo Mode.
Motion is paused. Drag to orbit, scroll to zoom, or focus the scene and use arrow keys. Escape restores your view.
Surface landmarks
FORCES · SHADOWS · SMALL WORLDS
The science lab.
Motion is a balance between forward velocity and inward acceleration.
Choose a world to study its orbit.
Five equilibria in a rotating circular model. L1–L3 are unstable; L4/L5 are stable in the ideal model. Gravity remains nonzero here. Sizes and spacing follow the active visual scale; these are not stationkeeping trajectories.
Arrows show direction with enlarged, independent lengths. Values use physical units and a two-body model, relative to the parent. Vectors show forward physical motion, including while rewinding. The Hill region is a rough stability scale, not a hard boundary; its wireframe is enlarged independently when needed.
NASA · gravity and mechanics ↗ NASA · Lagrange points ↗Move the Moon through an alignment and watch the shadow cross the receiving world.
Geometric experiment, independent of the date. Earth/Moon sizes and spacing share one scale. Sunlight arrives from the left; the Sun is outside this local view. Cone transparency, shadow darkness and lunar redness are illustrative. No refraction, lunar terrain or eclipse prediction.
NASA · eclipse geometry ↗Rocky remnants and icy visitors. Select a body to follow its stored orbit.
JPL osculating elements describe an orbit at an epoch. Dated two-body views are limited to ±365 days (asteroids) or ±90 days (comets); beyond that the epoch position is shown. These windows are conservative display limits, not certified accuracy. No encounter or impact predictions.
NASA/JPL · data and model ↗Star Explorer
Diameters share one linear scale. A tiny reference stays tiny; approach it to inspect. Spacing is illustrative.
Drag to orbit in 3D, or use the canvas arrow keys. Distances stay linear; star symbols are enlarged.
Details & sources
Black holes
Anatomy, reference data & sources
- Event horizon
- The boundary beyond which outward signals cannot escape. Not a material surface. Its radius is Rₛ in this non-rotating reference.
- Accretion disk
- Hot matter outside the hole. Its light is bent; motion can make the approaching side brighter.
- Photon sphere & ring
- Unstable light orbits at 1.5 Rₛ. Repeatedly bent light forms narrow ring images; the distant shadow radius is about 2.6 Rₛ. Numerical detail is broadened here.
- Time dilation
- The clock readout compares a hypothetical stationary clock at radius r to one at infinity. Hovering requires acceleration; this is not a traveler’s free-fall rate.
- Jets
- Magnetized plasma launched outside the horizon along the rotation axis. Optional jets for M87* and Cygnus X-1 are illustrative.
- Singularity
- A classical prediction where general relativity ceases to give a complete description. No verified interior is depicted.
Model limits: approximate spatial ray integration; no spin, full relativistic transfer, measured disk geometry or physical infall dynamics. The background is procedural. Orbit or zoom to explore; disable Bend light to compare straight rays. Low / Medium / High quality use 48 / 72 / 112 ray steps.
Hipparcos (1997) reference intervals, not latest solutions. Stars share an artificial display radius; see model limits.
The Sun crosses thirteen official constellations, including Ophiuchus. They occupy unequal spans; connecting figures are teaching guides, not IAU boundaries.
- Traditional figure
- Symbolic element
- Common Western date range
Twelve equal 30° signs follow the seasonal equinox in tropical astrology. Precession separates them from the background stars. The optional outer wheel shows equal cultural sectors; the inner astronomical band uses unequal constellation spans.
A shared sky, many histories
Constellation imagery varies among cultures. This section presents a Western twelve-sign convention, rather than a universal sky tradition. Medieval Islamic scholars refined astronomical observations and instruments while zodiac imagery also appeared in art. Those scientific and cultural histories are related, but their claims use different kinds of evidence.
The Met · astronomy, instruments & imagery ↗Earth is the viewpoint. The gold circle is the ecliptic. All body symbols use a common display radius; their directions, rather than distances or sizes, carry meaning.
Date, time & observing location
Manual coordinates only; no location permission. UTC time is used directly. The horizon is geometric; weather, light pollution and refraction are not modeled. This reconstructs an astronomical sky, not a horoscope.
Science, cultural sources & model limits
Stars: Yale BSC5 FK5 J2000 coordinates; selected Hipparcos parallax references. Constellation membership: Roman (1987) boundary lookup with approximate B1875 precession; the ecliptic band is sampled at 0.25°. This is not a boundary-ingress predictor. Planets: JPL's approximate elements, with Earth–Moon barycenter as observer. Moon: Schlyter's low-precision dated model. Positions are geometric, with no light-time, aberration, nutation, refraction or topocentric lunar parallax. Star proper motions are not advanced. Dates: 1800–2050. Symbol sizes, exposure and connecting lines are illustrative.
Tradition metadata describes one common Western convention. Dates vary among sources and systems; no personal prediction or scientific effect is implied. The cultural sector overlay is separate from the measured star directions and the IAU region lookup.
Chapter spacing is nonlinear. This conceptual patch is an educational reconstruction, not a view from outside the Universe.
Science, model limits & sources
Coordinates, populations, brightness and depth are procedural or schematic. Named region links do not indicate measured bearings. Filaments, gas and flow guides are enhanced for teaching. This is not a survey, an N-body simulation or a velocity reconstruction. A supercluster is not necessarily gravitationally bound as a whole. Horizon guides illustrate an observer's observable region, never a material shell or the edge of all space.
Science, model limits & sources
Distances are rounded adopted references, separate from display spacing. Each detail view is reframed to fit: galaxy sizes, star counts, brightness, thickness and orientation are illustrative. The Local Group map compresses distances and uses schematic bearings. These are static structural studies, not measured three-dimensional surveys or orbital simulations. Camera orbit changes your viewpoint only.
Orbit to inspect the reconstructed depth.
A zone location does not establish habitability.
Full heat redistribution, no greenhouse. This is a calculated reference, not a measured surface temperature. Atmospheres and surface conditions remain uncertain.
Science, reference data & sources
Circular, coplanar period model with arbitrary phases and orientation. Not an N-body simulation, transit forecast or current orbital configuration. Rounded periods do not reproduce precise resonances.
NASA Science catalog snapshot: 20 October 2026. Unknown or unadopted masses are left explicit. Estimates and measurements are distinguished above. Planet surfaces and cloud patterns are artistic; no oceans or biosignatures are inferred.
Life of a Star
0 Rotation phase · ideal beam response 1
Gray: rotation axis · gold: magnetic axis · mint: observer direction. Beam directions and field lines are an adjustable diagram; the observer is independent of your camera.
Reference data & model limits
Lifecycle stage durations and sizes are deliberately reframed. Supernova particles, colors and compact surfaces are artistic; no explosion hydrodynamics, relativistic surface imaging or measured pulse profile is computed. The dipole field and two opposite 12° cones teach geometry. Observed pulsar beams can be more complex. Fast physical spins are slowed to avoid frame aliasing; displayed periods are always stated. Magnetars generally rotate much more slowly than millisecond pulsars. Outbursts may involve magnetic stress and crust/field changes; no precise trigger or light curve is claimed.
A journey of light.
Sunlight spreads outward, crossing the space between worlds.
Approximate one-way times at mean orbital distances, at 299,792.458 km/s. Worlds temporarily use circular mean-distance paths; planetary time is paused. The front is schematic in Explorer scale.
Beyond our world.
Follow the encounters that changed our view of the Solar System.
Sourced milestones · reconstructed routes. Choose a mission to explore its timeline.
↑ ↓ navigate · Enter to explore · Esc to close
Your view
A little more detail. A little less distraction.
Quality adjusts particles and display resolution. Terrain detail applies on the next surface entry.
Maps by
Solar System Scope
· CC BY 4.0
Astronomical data from
NASA