Putting the planets where they are tonight…

Every planet, moon, dwarf planet and spacecraft here is drawn where it really is right now, worked out from NASA JPL orbit data. Run time forwards or backwards with the bar at the bottom.

The Sun and planets

  • Sun
  • Mercury
  • Venus
  • Earth
  • Mars
  • Jupiter
  • Saturn
  • Uranus
  • Neptune

Dwarf planets

  • Ceres
  • Pluto
  • Haumea
  • Makemake
  • Eris

Moons

  • Moon
  • Phobos
  • Deimos
  • Io
  • Europa
  • Ganymede
  • Callisto
  • Mimas
  • Enceladus
  • Tethys
  • Dione
  • Rhea
  • Titan
  • Iapetus
  • Miranda
  • Ariel
  • Umbriel
  • Titania
  • Oberon
  • Triton
  • Charon

Belts

  • Asteroid Belt
  • Kuiper Belt

Spacecraft

  • Voyager 1
  • Voyager 2
  • New Horizons
  • Pioneer 10
  • Pioneer 11

Fall inside

  • Inside the Sun
  • Inside Mercury
  • Inside Venus
  • Inside Earth
  • Inside Mars
  • Inside Jupiter
  • Inside Saturn
  • Inside Uranus
  • Inside Neptune
  • Inside the Moon
  • Inside Europa
  • Inside Titan
Right now · live

Eris

The world that got Pluto demoted.

When Eris was found in 2005, it looked bigger than Pluto. Was it the tenth planet?

Astronomers had to decide what a planet actually is. In 2006 they wrote the rules, and both Eris and Pluto became dwarf planets. Fittingly, Eris is named after the Greek goddess of strife.

We now know Eris is a touch smaller than Pluto, but heavier.

Its orbit is long and tilted. Right now it's near its farthest point, nearly three times as far from the Sun as Pluto. Its light takes more than 13 hours to reach us.

Eris is one of the brightest, whitest things in the solar system, probably coated in fresh frost.

If you stood here

Pitch dark, about −243 °C, with the Sun just the brightest star in the sky. One day here lasts almost 16 Earth days.

The numbers

Width
2,326 km
One day
16 Earth days
One year
559.9 Earth years
Moons
1
Temperature
about −243 °C
70 kg on Earth weighs
6 kg here
Quick answers+

How big is Eris?

Eris is 2,326 km wide, about 18% of Earth's width.

How long is a day on Eris?

One spin of Eris takes 16 Earth days.

How long is a year on Eris?

Eris takes 559.9 Earth years to go once round the Sun.

How many moons does Eris have?

Eris has one moon.

How hot or cold is Eris?

About −243 °C.

What is the gravity like on Eris?

Gravity is 0.82 m/s², 8% of Earth's. Someone who weighs 70 kg on Earth would weigh 6 kg there.