Heliocodex

Atlas

The atlas

Flat charts of everything in the 3D model, drawn to scale and good enough to print. Below them, one ruler that runs from your own height to the edge of what can be seen.

The charts

Each one shows where its worlds are today, and every name on it will fly you there in 3D.

Further out

Eight steps away from the Sun, each one opening in 3D. Where part of a view is a model and not a map, it says so. Where the data comes from.

The ruler

Each line across is ten times the one above it. There are 27 of them between a metre and the edge of the visible universe.

Sizes are on the left and distances on the right.

Where names crowd, a thin line joins each one to its true place.

Names in italics are landmarks, explained underneath. The others are worlds, and lead to their chart.

  1. 1 ma long stride
  2. An adultabout 1.7 m tall
  3. 10 mthe length of a bus
  4. A blue whaleup to 33 m long
  5. 100 mthe length of a football pitch
  6. The Space Station109 m across
  7. Itokawa0.3 km wide
  8. Apophis0.3 km wide
  9. Bennu0.5 km wide
  10. Didymos0.8 km wide
  11. Ryugu0.9 km wide
  12. 1 kma ten-minute walk
  13. Comet Hartley 21.6 km wide
  14. Comet 67P3.4 km wide
  15. Comet Wild 24 km wide
  16. Comet Encke4.8 km wide
  17. Comet Borrelly4.8 km wide
  18. Comet Tempel 16 km wide
  19. Daphnis7.6 km wide
  20. Mount Everest8,849 m high
  21. 10 kmthe height airliners fly at
  22. Eros16.8 km wide
  23. A neutron starabout 25 km wide
  24. Mathilde52.8 km wide
  25. Comet Hale-Bopp60 km wide
  26. Prometheus86.2 km wide
  27. Lutetia98 km wide
  28. Thebe98.6 km wide
  29. and 17 more worlds, on the charts
  30. 100 kman hour on the motorway
  31. Where space begins100 km up
  32. Hyperion270 km wide
  33. Mimas396 km wide
  34. Enceladus504 km wide
  35. Vesta523 km wide
  36. Dysnomia700 km wide
  37. Ceres939 km wide
  38. Sedna995 km wide
  39. and 19 more worlds, on the charts
  40. 1,000 kmabout the length of Great Britain
  41. Europa3,122 km wide
  42. The Moon3,475 km wide
  43. Callisto4,821 km wide
  44. Mercury4,879 km wide
  45. Titan5,150 km wide
  46. Ganymede5,262 km wide
  47. Mars6,779 km wide
  48. Phobos from Mars9,375 km
  49. and 17 more worlds, on the charts
  50. and 1 more moon of Orcus
  51. 10,000 kmfrom the North Pole to the equator
  52. Charon from Pluto19,600 km
  53. Sirius B, a white dwarf11,300 km wide
  54. Deimos from Mars23,500 km
  55. Venus12,100 km wide
  56. Weather and TV satellites35,786 km up
  57. Earth12,700 km wide
  58. Nix from Pluto49,300 km
  59. Kerberos from Pluto58,300 km
  60. Neptune49,200 km wide
  61. Hydra from Pluto65,200 km
  62. Uranus50,700 km wide
  63. Larissa from Neptune73,600 km
  64. and 25 more, mostly moons of Uranus
  65. 100,000 kma quarter of the way to the Moon
  66. Saturn116,500 km wide
  67. Enceladus from Saturn238,400 km
  68. Jupiter139,800 km wide
  69. One light second299,792 km
  70. Dione from Saturn377,700 km
  71. The Moon from the Earth384,400 km
  72. Io from Jupiter421,800 km
  73. Rhea from Saturn527,200 km
  74. Europa from Jupiter671,100 km
  75. and 30 more, mostly moons of Saturn
  76. 1 million kmlight crosses this in 3.3 seconds
  77. The Sun1.39 million km wide
  78. Ganymede from Jupiter1.07 million km
  79. Titan from Saturn1.22 million km
  80. The Webb telescope1.5 million km from the Earth
  81. Callisto from Jupiter1.88 million km
  82. Iapetus from Saturn3.56 million km
  83. Nereid from Neptune5.52 million km
  84. and 7 more, mostly moons of Uranus
  85. 10 million kma quarter of the way to Venus at its nearest
  86. Phoebe from Saturn12.9 million km
  87. The Milky Way’s black holeabout 24 million km wide · worked out
  88. Mercury from the Sun0.387 au
  89. and 385 more, mostly moons of Saturn
  90. 100 million kmtwo thirds of the way to the Sun
  91. Venus from the Sun0.723 au
  92. Earth from the Sun1.00 au
  93. Eros from the Sun1.46 au
  94. Mars from the Sun1.52 au
  95. Vesta from the Sun2.36 au
  96. Ceres from the Sun2.77 au
  97. Jupiter from the Sun5.20 au
  98. and 20 more worlds round the Sun
  99. 1 billion kmbetween Jupiter and Saturn
  100. Saturn from the Sun9.54 au
  101. Betelgeuse, a red supergiantabout 1.1 billion km wide
  102. Uranus from the Sun19.2 au
  103. Neptune from the Sun30.1 au
  104. Pluto from the Sun39.6 au
  105. Haumea from the Sun43.1 au
  106. Quaoar from the Sun43.2 au
  107. Makemake from the Sun45.6 au
  108. and 4 more worlds round the Sun
  109. 10 billion kmabout twice as far as Neptune
  110. Gonggong from the Sun66.9 au
  111. Eris from the Sun67.9 au
  112. The edge of the Sun’s wind121 au from the Sun
  113. Voyager 1 in November 2026172 au from the Sun
  114. The black hole in M87about 38 billion km wide · worked out
  115. Sedna from the Sun544 au
  116. and 1 more world round the Sun
  117. 100 billion kmlight takes nearly four days
  118. The Oort cloud beginsfrom about 2,000 au · never seen
  119. 1 trillion kma tenth of a light year
  120. 1 light yearlight’s journey in a year: 9.46 trillion km
  121. The Oort cloud endsperhaps 100,000 au · never seen
  122. Proxima Centauri4.2 light years
  123. 10 light yearsthe Sun’s nearest neighbours
  124. TRAPPIST-1about 40 light years
  125. 100 light yearshow far our first radio shows have travelled
  126. The Pleiades444 light years
  127. 1,000 light yearsmost stars seen by eye are nearer than this
  128. 10,000 light yearsa tenth of the way across the Milky Way
  129. The centre of the Milky Way26,700 light years
  130. 100,000 light yearsthe scale of a large galaxy
  131. The Milky Way’s discabout 100,000 light years wide
  132. The Large Magellanic Cloud162,000 light years
  133. 1 million light yearsless than halfway to the Andromeda galaxy
  134. The Andromeda galaxy2.5 million light years
  135. 10 million light yearsfour times as far as the Andromeda galaxy
  136. The galaxy M8755 million light years
  137. 100 million light yearstwice as far as the Virgo cluster
  138. The Laniakea superclusterabout 520 million light years wide
  139. 1 billion light yearsits light set out before there were animals
  140. 10 billion light yearsits light is older than the Earth
  141. The edge of what we can seeabout 46 billion light years
  142. Everything we can seeabout 93 billion light years wide
  1. 1 ma long stride
  2. An adultabout 1.7 m tall
  3. 10 mthe length of a bus
  4. A blue whaleup to 33 m long
  5. 100 mthe length of a football pitch
  6. The Space Station109 m across
  7. Itokawa0.3 km wide
  8. Apophis0.3 km wide
  9. Bennu0.5 km wide
  10. Didymos0.8 km wide
  11. Ryugu0.9 km wide
  12. 1 kma ten-minute walk
  13. Comet Hartley 21.6 km wide
  14. Comet 67P3.4 km wide
  15. Comet Wild 24 km wide
  16. Comet Encke4.8 km wide
  17. Comet Borrelly4.8 km wide
  18. Comet Tempel 16 km wide
  19. Daphnis7.6 km wide
  20. Mount Everest8,849 m high
  21. 10 kmthe height airliners fly at
  22. Eros16.8 km wide
  23. A neutron starabout 25 km wide
  24. Hydra37 km wide
  25. Metis43 km wide
  26. Naiad58 km wide
  27. Comet Hale-Bopp60 km wide
  28. Thalassa80 km wide
  29. Pandora81.2 km wide
  30. Prometheus86.2 km wide
  31. Lutetia98 km wide
  32. Thebe98.6 km wide
  33. and 13 more worlds, on the charts
  34. 100 kman hour on the motorway
  35. Where space begins100 km up
  36. Nereid340 km wide
  37. Mimas396 km wide
  38. Miranda472 km wide
  39. Enceladus504 km wide
  40. Pallas513 km wide
  41. Vesta523 km wide
  42. Dysnomia700 km wide
  43. Orcus917 km wide
  44. Ceres939 km wide
  45. Sedna995 km wide
  46. and 16 more worlds, on the charts
  47. 1,000 kmabout the length of Great Britain
  48. Haumea1,596 km wide
  49. Eris2,326 km wide
  50. Pluto2,377 km wide
  51. Europa3,122 km wide
  52. The Moon3,475 km wide
  53. Io3,643 km wide
  54. Callisto4,821 km wide
  55. Mercury4,879 km wide
  56. Titan5,150 km wide
  57. Ganymede5,262 km wide
  58. Mars6,779 km wide
  59. and 15 more worlds, on the charts
  60. 10,000 kmfrom the North Pole to the equator
  61. Sirius B, a white dwarf11,300 km wide
  62. Venus12,100 km wide
  63. Earth12,700 km wide
  64. Charon from Pluto19,600 km
  65. Weather and TV satellites35,786 km up
  66. Neptune49,200 km wide
  67. Nix from Pluto49,300 km
  68. Uranus50,700 km wide
  69. Hydra from Pluto65,200 km
  70. Larissa from Neptune73,600 km
  71. and 27 more, mostly moons of Uranus
  72. 100,000 kma quarter of the way to the Moon
  73. Saturn116,500 km wide
  74. Jupiter139,800 km wide
  75. Mimas from Saturn186,000 km
  76. Enceladus from Saturn238,400 km
  77. Tethys from Saturn295,000 km
  78. One light second299,792 km
  79. Dione from Saturn377,700 km
  80. The Moon from the Earth384,400 km
  81. Io from Jupiter421,800 km
  82. Rhea from Saturn527,200 km
  83. Europa from Jupiter671,100 km
  84. and 28 more, mostly moons of Saturn
  85. 1 million kmlight crosses this in 3.3 seconds
  86. Ganymede from Jupiter1.07 million km
  87. Titan from Saturn1.22 million km
  88. The Sun1.39 million km wide
  89. Hyperion from Saturn1.48 million km
  90. The Webb telescope1.5 million km from the Earth
  91. Callisto from Jupiter1.88 million km
  92. Iapetus from Saturn3.56 million km
  93. Nereid from Neptune5.52 million km
  94. and 6 more, mostly moons of Uranus
  95. 10 million kma quarter of the way to Venus at its nearest
  96. Phoebe from Saturn12.9 million km
  97. The Milky Way’s black holeabout 24 million km wide · worked out
  98. Mercury from the Sun0.387 au
  99. and 385 more, mostly moons of Saturn
  100. 100 million kmtwo thirds of the way to the Sun
  101. Venus from the Sun0.723 au
  102. Earth from the Sun1.00 au
  103. Bennu from the Sun1.13 au
  104. Ryugu from the Sun1.19 au
  105. Itokawa from the Sun1.32 au
  106. Eros from the Sun1.46 au
  107. Mars from the Sun1.52 au
  108. Vesta from the Sun2.36 au
  109. Ceres from the Sun2.77 au
  110. Comet 67P from the Sun3.46 au
  111. Jupiter from the Sun5.20 au
  112. and 16 more worlds round the Sun
  113. 1 billion kmbetween Jupiter and Saturn
  114. Betelgeuse, a red supergiantabout 1.1 billion km wide
  115. Saturn from the Sun9.54 au
  116. Halley's Comet from the Sun17.9 au
  117. Uranus from the Sun19.2 au
  118. Neptune from the Sun30.1 au
  119. Orcus from the Sun39.4 au
  120. Pluto from the Sun39.6 au
  121. Haumea from the Sun43.1 au
  122. Quaoar from the Sun43.2 au
  123. Arrokoth from the Sun44.1 au
  124. Makemake from the Sun45.6 au
  125. and 1 more world round the Sun
  126. 10 billion kmabout twice as far as Neptune
  127. Gonggong from the Sun66.9 au
  128. Eris from the Sun67.9 au
  129. The edge of the Sun’s wind121 au from the Sun
  130. Voyager 1 in November 2026172 au from the Sun
  131. The black hole in M87about 38 billion km wide · worked out
  132. Sedna from the Sun544 au
  133. and 1 more world round the Sun
  134. 100 billion kmlight takes nearly four days
  135. The Oort cloud beginsfrom about 2,000 au · never seen
  136. 1 trillion kma tenth of a light year
  137. 1 light yearlight’s journey in a year: 9.46 trillion km
  138. The Oort cloud endsperhaps 100,000 au · never seen
  139. Proxima Centauri4.2 light years
  140. 10 light yearsthe Sun’s nearest neighbours
  141. TRAPPIST-1about 40 light years
  142. 100 light yearshow far our first radio shows have travelled
  143. The Pleiades444 light years
  144. 1,000 light yearsmost stars seen by eye are nearer than this
  145. 10,000 light yearsa tenth of the way across the Milky Way
  146. The centre of the Milky Way26,700 light years
  147. 100,000 light yearsthe scale of a large galaxy
  148. The Milky Way’s discabout 100,000 light years wide
  149. The Large Magellanic Cloud162,000 light years
  150. 1 million light yearsless than halfway to the Andromeda galaxy
  151. The Andromeda galaxy2.5 million light years
  152. 10 million light yearsfour times as far as the Andromeda galaxy
  153. The galaxy M8755 million light years
  154. 100 million light yearstwice as far as the Virgo cluster
  155. The Laniakea superclusterabout 520 million light years wide
  156. 1 billion light yearsits light set out before there were animals
  157. 10 billion light yearsits light is older than the Earth
  158. The edge of what we can seeabout 46 billion light years
  159. Everything we can seeabout 93 billion light years wide

The landmarks

From the smallest to the largest, with where each figure comes from.

An adult about 1.7 m tall
The ruler starts at the scale of a person, because it is the one size everybody knows. Our World in Data, human height
A blue whale up to 33 m long
The largest animal that has ever lived. NOAA Fisheries, blue whale
The Space Station 109 m across
The International Space Station, measured across its solar panels. It is the largest thing people have built off the Earth. NASA, International Space Station facts and figures
Mount Everest 8,849 m high
The height above sea level agreed by Nepal and China in 2020. BBC News, 8 December 2020: Mount Everest’s new height
A neutron star about 25 km wide
More mass than the Sun, pressed into a ball the width of a city. This is the one whose width has been measured best, a pulsar called PSR J0030+0451. Riley et al. 2019, Astrophysical Journal Letters 887, L21 (NICER telescope)
Where space begins 100 km up
There is no sharp top to the air. This height, the Kármán line, is the one the world’s air sports body uses to say where flying ends and spaceflight begins. Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, the 100 km boundary
Sirius B, a white dwarf 11,300 km wide
The dead core of a star like the Sun. It has the mass of the Sun in a ball a little smaller than the Earth. Bond et al. 2017, Astrophysical Journal 840, 70 (Hubble Space Telescope)
Weather and TV satellites 35,786 km up
At this height a satellite goes round once a day, so it stays over the same spot on the turning Earth. European Space Agency, types of orbits
One light second 299,792 km
How far light goes in a second. The metre is defined from this number, so it is exact. International Bureau of Weights and Measures, the defining constants of the SI
The Webb telescope 1.5 million km from the Earth
The James Webb Space Telescope keeps station on the far side of the Earth from the Sun, about four times as far away as the Moon. NASA, Webb’s orbit
The Milky Way’s black hole about 24 million km wide
The width of the event horizon of Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the centre of our galaxy. Worked out here from its measured mass, 4.1 million Suns, for a hole that is not spinning. Worked out here from a measured figure. GRAVITY Collaboration 2019, Astronomy & Astrophysics 625, L10 (the mass)
Betelgeuse, a red supergiant about 1.1 billion km wide
A swollen star near the end of its life. Put where the Sun is, it would swallow Mars and reach most of the way to Jupiter. Its width is known to about a tenth. Joyce et al. 2020, Astrophysical Journal 902, 63
The edge of the Sun’s wind 121 au from the Sun
Where Voyager 1 left the bubble blown by the Sun and entered the thin gas between the stars, in August 2012. Voyager 2 crossed at 119 au in another direction: the edge moves in and out. Gurnett et al. 2013, Science 341, 1489
Voyager 1 in November 2026 172 au from the Sun
The furthest thing people have made, launched in 1977 and still moving outward by about 3.6 au a year. This month it reaches one light day from the Earth. NASA/JPL Horizons, position for 10 November 2026
The black hole in M87 about 38 billion km wide
The first black hole to have its picture taken. Its event horizon is four times as wide as Neptune’s orbit. Worked out here from its measured mass, 6.5 billion Suns, for a hole that is not spinning. Worked out here from a measured figure. European Southern Observatory, 10 April 2019: first image of a black hole (the mass)
The Oort cloud begins from about 2,000 au
A vast shell of icy bodies thought to surround the Sun. Nobody has seen it. It is worked out from the long-period comets that fall in from it. Its inner edge is put at between 2,000 and 5,000 au. Never seen. This comes from theory. NASA, Oort cloud facts
The Oort cloud ends perhaps 100,000 au
The outer edge is put at anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 au. Out here the Sun’s hold is so weak that a passing star can knock a comet loose. Never seen. This comes from theory. NASA, Oort cloud facts
Proxima Centauri 4.2 light years
The nearest star to the Sun, a small red dwarf with at least one planet. European Southern Observatory, 24 August 2016: a planet found round the nearest star
TRAPPIST-1 about 40 light years
A dim red star with seven planets about the size of the Earth. NASA, TRAPPIST-1
The Pleiades 444 light years
The Seven Sisters, a young cluster of stars easy to see by eye on winter evenings. Abramson 2018, Research Notes of the AAS 2, 150 (from the Gaia satellite)
The centre of the Milky Way 26,700 light years
Measured by watching a star swing round the black hole there. GRAVITY Collaboration 2019, Astronomy & Astrophysics 625, L10
The Milky Way’s disc about 100,000 light years wide
Our galaxy: a flat disc of a few hundred billion stars. Its edge is not sharp, and counts that include the thin outer parts come out larger. NASA, galaxies
The Large Magellanic Cloud 162,000 light years
A small galaxy in orbit round ours, seen by eye from the southern half of the Earth. Its distance is the first step for measuring everything further. Pietrzyński et al. 2019, Nature 567, 200
The Andromeda galaxy 2.5 million light years
The nearest large galaxy, and the furthest thing most people can see without a telescope. NASA, Messier 31
The galaxy M87 55 million light years
A giant galaxy in the Virgo cluster, the nearest big cluster of galaxies. European Southern Observatory, 10 April 2019: first image of a black hole
The Laniakea supercluster about 520 million light years wide
The great gathering of about a hundred thousand galaxies that ours belongs to, mapped by which way the galaxies are flowing. Tully et al. 2014, Nature 513, 71
The edge of what we can see about 46 billion light years
Where the matter that sent out the oldest light we receive is now. It is an edge to what we can see, not an edge to the universe. Gott et al. 2005, Astrophysical Journal 624, 463: A Map of the Universe
Everything we can see about 93 billion light years wide
The observable universe: the part whose light has had time to reach us. It is wider than twice its age in light years because space has stretched while the light was travelling. Nobody knows how much lies beyond. Gott et al. 2005, Astrophysical Journal 624, 463: A Map of the Universe

How far is far

A light year is how far light travels in a year: 9.46 trillion km. Past the planets, kilometres stop meaning much, so the ruler changes to light years.

For the furthest marks, distance needs care. Space has stretched while the light was on its way, so a galaxy is further off now than it was when its light set out. The distances here are where things are now.

The widths and orbits of the worlds come from the same data as the 3D model and the charts, and each chart lists its sources.