LAS Solar System Page
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At the top of the page is a display showing the positions (in RA & Dec) of the Sun, Planets, Moon
and a few bright minor planets as seen from Earth.
This is a 360 degree panorama as seen by an imaginary observer standing at the centre of a transparent Earth.
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The wavy line is the path of the ecliptic.
You will see that the planets and the Sun are never far from the ecliptic plane.
The two bars labelled "Ecliptic Constellations" show the constellations the
ecliptic plane passes through.
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For more information, click here
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On the right is a plan view of the Solar System showing the positions of the planets in their orbits.
The planets move anti-clockwise in this view.
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The sizes of the planetary orbits are not plotted to a linear scale.
Doing so would cram up the inner planets very close together,
making it difficult to separate them.
Instead the orbits are plotted on a logarithmic scale,
with a small offset to avoid losing Mercury into the Sun at perihelion.
This enables us to see all the planets and their relative positions in their orbits.
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Note: The beautiful brass orreries so popular more than a hundred years ago used
non-linear scales for the same reason.
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