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= Lunar Cycles

About

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.


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About (Part 2)

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.


Prev | Next | Hide

Use Your Keyboard to Move Around

(requires desktop device)

Rotate & MoveStrafe


Prev | Restart | Hide

Space Simulation

Real TimeDemo Time (1 sec = 1 hour)
Earth Orbit365.26 days2 hours 26 minutes 6 seconds
Moon Orbit27.21 days10 minutes 53 seconds
Earth Rotation24 hours24 seconds

Distance to Sun149,597,871 km
Distance to Moon384,400 km

Diameter of Earth12,742 km
Diameter of Sun1,391,000 km
Diameter of Moon3,474 km

Arrow Key Movement Speed
30 x Diameter of Earth / sec
= 382,260 km / sec

Time to sun
Distance to Sun / 382,260 km / sec
= 6 minutes 31 seconds

Author: Jason Chavannes
View on Github
Distance from Earth: