The SixthLens planetarium
A wider perspective.
Explore the solar system, follow a world, and watch time reshape the view.
Drag to orbit / scroll or pinch to zoomIllustrated surfaces
+30 d/s
J K L shuttle · space pause · T today
Distances compressed r^0.46 · radii exaggerated — readable, not true · Earth drawn 4,456× life size
A sense of scale
Worlds, side by side.
Drawn to true relative scale, which is the only way most of these numbers land. Nothing here is compressed.
Earth
Jupiter
| Measure | Earth | Jupiter | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equatorial radius | 6,378.1 km | 71,492 km | 11.2× |
| Mass | 5.97e24 | 1.90e27 | 318× |
| Mean density | 5.51 g/cm³ | 1.33 g/cm³ | 4.16× |
| Surface gravity | 9.81 m/s² | 24.79 m/s² | 2.53× |
| Escape velocity | 11.2 km/s | 59.5 km/s | 5.33× |
| Day length | 23.93 h | 9.93 h | 2.41× |
| Distance from the Sun | 1.00 AU | 5.20 AU | 5.20× |
| Year length | 365 d | 11.86 yr | 11.9× |
| Axial tilt | 23.4° | 3.1° | — |
| Mean temperature | 288 K | 165 K | 1.75× |
| Known moons | 1 | 97 | — |
↺ marks retrograde rotation. Year length and distance appear only when both bodies orbit the Sun directly.
About this model: what is calculated and what is illustrated
- Positions — JPL Keplerian elements with per-century rates, solved through Kepler’s equation each frame.
- Lighting — one source at the Sun, so every terminator and phase is where it should be rather than painted on.
- Axial tilts — true obliquity, which is why Uranus rolls on its side at 97.8° and why Saturn’s rings open and close through its 29-year orbit.
- Saturn’s ring gaps — the Cassini division and the Encke gap at their real radii in Saturn radii.
- Surfaces are not real. They are illustrated to match the site palette, not photographic maps. Band positions are indicative; nothing here is a survey.
- Moon distances are compressed into a narrow band, though their periods stay correct relative to one another — which is why Io, Europa and Ganymede still keep their exact 4:2:1 resonance.
- Rotation is slowed above about a quarter turn per second, or Jupiter would strobe at high time compression. The scrubber says so when it happens.