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

Pioneer 11

The first visitor to Saturn.

Pioneer 11 followed its twin to Jupiter in 1974, then used Jupiter's gravity to swing across the solar system.

In 1979 it became the first spacecraft ever to visit Saturn, scouting the way for the Voyagers.

Like Pioneer 10 it carries a plaque with a message from Earth.

Its power faded and NASA last heard from it in 1995. It's drifting towards the constellation Aquila.

If you rode along

Silence, cold and dark, with the Sun a bright star behind you, heading out forever.

The numbers

Launched
5 April 1973
Visited
Jupiter (1974) and Saturn (1979)
Last heard from
September 1995