Solar System Model
This activity shows the orbits and positions of the eight major planetary bodies in our solar system (at the time I first created this worksheet, I was unable to find sufficient data on Ceres and Pluto) for a given time frame.
To move the planets along their orbits, lightly click on the days slider knob so that it receives focus; then hold down the shift key and press the left arrow and right arrow keys on your keyboard to advance time. Make sure the knob does not lose focus.
The other sliders control the amounts by which orbital and planetary elements are exaggerated in order to make them visible. For instance, dragging the MeanRadiusMulti slider to the right will make all planets appear larger, and dragging the EccentricityMultislider to the left will make all orbits appear to be more circular.
Coordinate units are in AU, and Day 0 is equal to JD 2455376.5.