Grand tour
From the Sun out past Neptune, with a pass over Earth's night side and its city lights, then out to the Milky Way and a black hole. Each move is one continuous flight.
Screensaver for Mac
The solar system, live on your desktop.
Every planet sits where it really is right now, at true scale, lit by the real Sun. When your Mac goes idle, the camera sets off from world to world.
One-time purchase · macOS 12 or later · Windows coming soon
What you see
The sky as it is at this moment.
Today's positions
Each world is placed from its orbit for the current date and time, and the clock runs at the real rate. Earth's day side, the phase of the Moon and the planets' lighting all match this moment.
True proportions
Sizes and distances are to scale. The Sun dwarfs everything, Jupiter dwarfs the rest, and the trip between them crosses real emptiness.
Close, and still sharp
The camera comes in until a world's surface map runs out of detail, and stops there. Earth and Mars, with 8K maps, come the closest.
Two ways to watch
A grand tour, or one world.
One world
Pick a single body and stay with it: the whole disc, a close pass over the surface, the curve of the limb where day turns to night, and a high view that takes in its rings and moons.
The grand tour
Sun to Neptune, to scale.
The grand tour flies this route. Scroll it here: each world is drawn at its true size against the others, and the dark space between them is to scale too, 120 pixels for every astronomical unit.
00 · The centre
The Sun
Where every show begins. Everything else on this page adds up to less than a thousandth of its mass.
01 · 0.387 AU
Mercury
The smallest planet, scorched on one side of every long day.
- From the Sun right now
- 69,247,413 km
- Sunlight arrives after
- 3 min 51.0 s
02 · 0.723 AU
Venus
Wrapped in cloud so thick its surface never shows.
- From the Sun right now
- 108,730,175 km
- Sunlight arrives after
- 6 min 2.7 s
03 · 1 AU
Earth
The only world we know with oceans on the surface, and the only one with life.
- From the Sun right now
- 149,729,523 km
- Sunlight arrives after
- 8 min 19.4 s
04 · 1.524 AU
Mars
Red dust, the tallest volcano in the solar system and a canyon longer than the United States.
- From the Sun right now
- 233,392,641 km
- Sunlight arrives after
- 12 min 58.5 s
05 · 5.203 AU
Jupiter
More than twice the mass of every other planet put together.
- From the Sun right now
- 793,638,046 km
- Sunlight arrives after
- 44 min 7.3 s
06 · 9.537 AU
Saturn
Rings 280,000 km across and, in places, only about ten metres thick.
- From the Sun right now
- 1,411,348,597 km
- Sunlight arrives after
- 1 h 18 min
07 · 19.19 AU
Uranus
Tipped over on its side, rolling around the Sun.
- From the Sun right now
- 2,907,514,415 km
- Sunlight arrives after
- 2 h 42 min
08 · 30.07 AU
Neptune
The windiest world, where a year lasts 165 of ours.
- From the Sun right now
- 4,469,592,024 km
- Sunlight arrives after
- 4 h 8 min
Straight from the screensaver
Every frame here is the real thing.
How it works
Three steps, about a minute.
- BuyPay $1.99 through Stripe's secure checkout, by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
- DownloadYour download is on the next page. Keep it: it always gives you the latest version, updates included.
- InstallDouble-click Solar System.saver, then choose it in System Settings under Screen Saver.
Questions
Good to know.
Which Macs does it run on?
Any Mac on macOS 12 Monterey or later, Apple silicon or Intel.
Does it need an internet connection?
No. The planets, textures and star field are all inside the download (about 125 MB), so it runs offline.
Where do the planet positions come from?
From orbital elements for each body, evaluated for the current date and time. Earth turns at its real rate, so the day side you see is the day side right now.
Can I choose what it shows?
Yes. In System Settings, pick Solar System and press Options to choose the grand tour or one world from the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.
What about Windows and Linux?
Both are in the works. The Mac version is the first to ship.
Is the website still free?
Yes. The 3D viewer stays free for everyone. Buying the screensaver helps keep it running.