Right now you are hovering in space locked to the Sun, unaffected by Earth's gravity.
If you look closely, you will notice the Earth is slowly moving to the left. This is the Earth in orbit around the Sun.
Everything is to scale, this is the speed the Earth moves around the Sun - about 30 km per second - which is really fast. If you watch long enough, the Earth will eventually be completely off the screen.
At a diameter of 12,742 km, it takes the Earth a little over 7 minutes to travel its width in distance, which is about how long it will take to move off the screen.
Click the Next button below to learn more.
If you hide this tutorial, you can display it again by clicking the Show Controls button at the top of the screen.
At the top there are buttons to help navigate this simulation.
When the Earth is getting away, click the Back to Earth button.
If you don't want the Earth to move away, click the Lock to Earth button.
Real Time | Demo Time (1 sec = 1 hour) | |
---|---|---|
Earth Orbit | 365.26 days | 2 hours 26 minutes 6 seconds |
Moon Orbit | 27.21 days | 10 minutes 53 seconds |
Earth Rotation | 24 hours | 24 seconds |
Distance to Sun | 149,597,871 km |
Distance to Moon | 384,400 km |
Diameter of Earth | 12,742 km |
Diameter of Sun | 1,391,000 km |
Diameter of Moon | 3,474 km |