Orrery ▾

Mouse & touch

Drag

Rotate the view (free mode) or look around in place (from-body / Earth-surface modes).

Scroll wheel

Dolly the camera in / out of the scene.

Ctrl + scroll

Adjust telescope magnification (camera FOV, 5° narrow to 90° wide).

Hover a body

Show a live tooltip with name, distance, magnitude and clocks.

Click a body label

Pin the same details panel in place; clicking elsewhere closes it.

Double-click body

Lock the camera to follow that body.

Double-click empty space

Release the follow lock.

Click a star

Ring it and surface it in the Find Star dropdown.

Click a constellation label

Pin the line pattern as the highlighted constellation; click again to clear.

Hover a constellation label

Preview that constellation without changing the pinned highlight.

Keyboard

0

Reset telescope magnification to the default 45° FOV.

Esc

Release the body-follow lock (same as double-clicking empty space).

Time

Year / Month / Day / Time

Edit any field to jump the simulation to that instant. Year is clamped to astronomy-engine's reliable −3000 … 8000 range.

Zone

Display the date/time in UTC or the browser's local zone. Internal calculations are always UT.

Julian Date

Continuous days since 4713 BC; edit to jump precisely to that JD.

Now

Snap the simulation to the current real-world instant.

Speed

How fast simulated time advances per real second — from real-time up to one year per second.

Play / Pause

Toggle automatic time advancement.

View from

Picks the camera vantage. Free is the default orbit-around-the-scene mode. The body options put the camera at that body's centre and hide its mesh — a first-person look-around from inside the planet. Earth surface places the camera at your geolocated lat/lon (the browser will prompt for permission), with local zenith as up and a dimmed lower hemisphere standing in for the ground.

Show panel

Texture set

Image set used for body surfaces (Painted = stylised, Photo = real spacecraft imagery).

Theme

Brass = warm cabinet, Modern = dark cyan UI.

Arms

Radial line from the Sun to each body, indicating its current direction.

Orbits

Calculated orbit path of each body.

Trails

Render orbits as a comet trail (bright at the body, fading round to zero a year ago).

Axes

Spin-axis indicators (true IAU pole + tilt).

Location

Pin marker at your geolocated lat/lon on Earth.

Actual positions

Use true linear AU spacing instead of the compressed cabinet layout.

Actual sizes

Use true relative diameters; sub-pixel bodies fade to a star sprite. The slider next to it scales body sizes when this is off.

Stars

Show the celestial backdrop (J2000 equatorial).

Map

Choose between an equirectangular Milky Way image or the BSC5 catalog star points.

Intensity

Brightness of the chosen star map.

Find Star

Locate any BSC5 star by popular name, Bayer/Flamsteed designation, or HR number — selecting one rings it on screen and rotates the view to show it.

Constellations

Draw the 88 IAU line patterns on the celestial sphere.

Find (constellation)

Pick a constellation by name to highlight it; the view rotates to centre it.

Labels (constellation)

Show the English name of each constellation near its centre.

Ecliptic

Dashed yellow great circle marking the ecliptic — the plane the planets orbit in. Tick marks every 30° show ecliptic longitude (0° at the vernal equinox, 90° at the summer solstice, etc.).

Labels (body name labels)

Each body has its own toggle plus an All master switch. Labels follow the body around the screen; a leg connects the text to the body's edge. Click a label to pin its info panel.

Earth-surface mode extras

When View from is set to Earth surface:

Horizon ring

Dark-red compass on the local horizon with tick marks every 5° / 10° / 30°.

Compass labels

N / NE / E / SE / S / SW / W / NW around the horizon, oriented to the local north (Earth's spin axis projected onto your tangent plane).

Alt / Az indicator

Bottom-right badge showing the altitude and azimuth of the centre of view.

Dimmed ground

The lower hemisphere is darkened so the sky reads as the only "real" half.

Footer buttons

Reset

Restore all settings to their defaults and reload.

Help

This panel.

Credits

Sources, libraries, and acknowledgements.