Heliocodex

The Sun, its worlds and everything beyond

Real images from spacecraft and telescopes, with every number measured and credited.

Or look up at tonight’s sky, or start learning in ten short lessons.

Enterthe model in 3D

The Sun in extreme ultraviolet light by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. The colour is chosen: the light is invisible to the eye. Credit: NASA/SDO. The orbits above are drawn for effect, not to scale.

  1. A grey globe covered in craters of every size, some with bright rays.Mercury
  2. A smooth cream-white globe with faint tan swirls of cloud.Venus
  3. The whole Earth, with Africa, the white ice of Antarctica and swirls of cloud over blue sea.Earth
  4. A rust-orange globe with dark markings, a white polar cap and a long canyon across its middle.Mars
  5. A globe banded in cream, orange and rust, with the round Great Red Spot below the middle.Jupiter
  6. A pale gold globe circled by wide, thin rings seen at a slant.Saturn
  7. A plain pale blue-green globe with almost no markings.Uranus
  8. A deep blue globe with a dark oval spot and thin white streaks of cloud.Neptune
The Sun and its eight planets in real spacecraft photographs, all drawn to one scale. The distances would never fit: at this size, Neptune would be about 5 kilometres off to the right. See it at true size and distance.
The Sun and the eight planets: the first three numbers of each record
WorldFrom the SunSizeTemperature
The SunAt the centre1,392,700 kmAbout 5,500 °C
Mercury0.39 au4,879 km−180 to 430 °C
Venus0.72 au12,104 km464 °C
Earth1.00 au12,742 km15 °C
Mars1.52 au6,779 km−59 °C
Jupiter5.20 au139,822 km−108 °C
Saturn9.54 au116,464 km−139 °C
Uranus19.2 au50,724 km−197 °C
Neptune30.1 au49,244 km−201 °C

Every moon and small world, by distance

Sky

What is up tonight, wherever you are, with every planet and bright star named.

Named stars

SiriusCanopusArcturusRigil KentaurusVegaCapellaRigelProcyonBetelgeuseAchernarHadarAltair

Constellations

OrionUrsa MajorCassiopeiaCygnusScorpiusLeoTaurusCruxLyraAndromeda All 88

Learn

Finding your way

Gravity and orbits

Light, and how we know anything

The Sun

Planets

Moons

Asteroids, comets and the far edge

Stars

White dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes

Planets round other stars

The Milky Way

Galaxies

The universe

Life

Exploring space

How we found out

What everything is made of

Moons and small worlds

Dwarf planets, named by the IAU

CeresPlutoErisHaumeaMakemake

Likely dwarf planets

GonggongQuaoarSednaOrcus

Asteroids

VestaPallasHygieaJunoPsycheLutetiaIdaGaspraMathildeEros

Comets

Halley's CometComet EnckeComet Tempel 1Comet BorrellyComet Wild 2Comet Hartley 2Comet 67PComet Hale-Bopp

Reference

Glossary words

Light yearOrbitParallaxRedshiftBlack holeNebulaExoplanetSupernovaApparent magnitudeGalaxyTideAuroraEquinox A to Z

Charts, drawn to scaleThe Solar System in 3DFactsSources

How far out they are

The same worlds at their real distances from the Sun. Each mark is twice as far out as the one before; on an even scale, the four rocky planets would be squeezed into the first twentieth.

  1. Mercury0.39 au3 light minutesSmall, fast and cooked on one side.
  2. Venus0.72 au6 light minutesEarth's twin in size, and a furnace in every other way.
  3. Earth1.00 au8 light minutesThe only place we know of with life.
  4. Mars1.52 au13 light minutesA cold desert that used to have water.
  5. Jupiter5.2 au43 light minutesMore massive than all the other planets put together.
  6. Saturn9.5 au1 h 19 min of lightThe ringed planet, light enough to float on water.
  7. Uranus19.2 au2 h 40 min of lightThe planet that rolls on its side.
  8. Neptune30.1 au4 h 10 min of lightThe farthest planet, found by maths before sight.

Beyond the eight planets, the moons, dwarf planets, asteroids and comets are set out on the map of the Solar System.