Solar System Simulator 2D - Online Top‑Down Orrery

An orrery is a mechanical model of the Solar System that shows the relative positions and motions of the planets. This 2D top‑down simulator recreates that experience digitally — the Sun sits at the center while all eight planets orbit counter‑clockwise as viewed from above the Sun's north pole. You can zoom, pan, adjust the speed, and click any planet to learn more about it.

The orbital distances are proportionally accurate — Neptune's orbit is 30× farther from the Sun than Earth's. However, planet sizes are enlarged for visibility; at true scale the planets would be tiny specks. You can zoom in using the scroll wheel to explore the inner solar system up close, where Mercury and Venus become clearly visible.

The Solar System formed from a spinning disk of gas and dust about 4.6 billion years ago. Conservation of angular momentum caused the disk — and nearly everything that formed within it — to rotate in the same direction. That's why all eight major planets orbit counter‑clockwise when viewed from above the Sun's north pole. Venus and Uranus rotate on their axes in unusual ways, but their orbital motion follows the same rule.

The asteroid belt is a region between the orbits of Mars (1.5 AU) and Jupiter (5.2 AU), roughly 2.1 to 3.3 AU from the Sun. It contains millions of rocky bodies — remnants from the early Solar System that never coalesced into a planet due to Jupiter's strong gravitational influence. In this simulator, the belt appears as scattered dots between Mars and Jupiter.

At 1× speed, approximately 18 days pass each second — so Earth completes a full orbit in about 20 seconds. The default speed of 2× lets Earth orbit in roughly 10 seconds. You can crank the slider up to 10× for fast‑forward exploration or slow it down to 0.3× for a more leisurely view. The simulated date is displayed in the control bar.

Yes! Saturn's iconic rings are tilted about 26.7° relative to its orbital plane. From a top‑down perspective they appear as a slightly flattened ellipse surrounding the planet. In this simulator, the rings are rendered as a subtle elliptical glow around Saturn, mimicking what you would see from above the Solar System.