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About GalaxySim 3D
GalaxySim 3D is a free, real-scale model of the solar system and the Milky Way that anyone can fly through in a browser. It exists to make the real size of space — and real NASA data — something you can explore, not just read about.
Who builds it
Karan Gandhi
Student for life
Marketer by profession, learner by habit. I figure things out by building them, and I make small not-for-profit projects on the side to see how stuff really works.
How it works
Real positions
Planets, major moons and spacecraft start from state vectors published by NASA JPL Horizons, the system NASA mission planners use. 4,000 asteroids come from the JPL Small-Body Database.
Real physics
Normally every body follows an exact Kepler orbit. Change a mass and the simulator switches to N-body gravity (a leapfrog integrator in 6-hour steps), where every body pulls on every other.
Checked accuracy
Positions are verified against JPL Horizons for the planets and major moons; fact pages quote standard published values. Close-approach dates match NASA’s to within a day.
Real scale
Distances in the 3D scene are kept in kilometres with a floating origin, so you can go from the ISS 400 km up to stars light-years away without losing precision.
Images and credits
Planet and moon surfaces: NASA, ESA and Solar System Scope (CC BY 4.0). Sky panorama and deep-sky images: ESO and NASA/ESA Hubble. Galaxy map: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Contact
Email bolopaneer@gmail.com, or use the feedback form — every message is read.