An orbit is the path an object takes through space as it revolves around another object. While a planet travels in one direction, it is also affected by the Sun’s gravity causing it to take a curved route that eventually brings it back to its starting point. This complete revolution equates to a single orbit.
Orbit Velocities
The closer a planet is to the Sun, the faster it needs to travel in order to maintain its orbit.
Mercury 47.4 km/s
Venus 35.0 km/s
Earth 29.8 km/s
Mars 24.1 km/s
Jupiter 13.1 km/s
Saturn 9.7 km/s
Uranus 6.8 km/s
Neptune 5.4 km/s
Orbit Distances
The inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) are all relatively close together while the outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) are much more spread out.
Mercury
57,909,227 km
Venus
108,209,475 km
Earth
149,598,262 km
Mars
227,943,824 km
Jupiter
778,340,821 km
Saturn
1,426,666,422 km
Uranus
2,870,658,186 km
Neptune
4,498,396,441 km
Orbit Lengths
In the time it takes the Earth to complete one orbit, the planets closer to the Sun (Mercury and Venus) orbit at least once. The more distant planets (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) which move slower and have a greater distance to travel, complete just a fraction of their orbits in this time.
Mercury
(4.2 Orbits)
Venus
(1.6 Orbits)
Earth
(1 Orbit)
Mars
(53.2% of Orbit)
Jupiter
(8.4 % of Orbit)
Saturn
(3.4% of Orbit)
Uranus
(1.2% of Orbit)
Neptune
(0.6 % of Orbit)
How Far
See how far each planet has travelled around the Sun since you started reading this page!
Mercury n km
Venus n km
Earth n km
Mars n km
Jupiter n km
Saturn n km
Uranus n km
Neptune n km
The Sun (which orbits the centre of the Milky Way galaxy and travels at a speed of 220 km/s in relation to it) and Pluto (which travels slower than any of the planets at 4.7 km/s in relation to the Sun) have gone:
The Sun n km
Pluto n km
Thanks to Mark from Shark Facts for help with the planet distance counters.
Sources
Orbit velocities: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/
Orbit distances and lengths: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planetinfo/charchart.cfm
If you would like to embed a static version of the infographic on your website please use the following code:
Thank You for creating this website!
I agree, this is the best space fact website I have ever seen!
OMG this is like the coolest thing ever!#AWESEOME
i like how it show the distance that really cool
I need Mars facts, please and thank you!
Thanks! 🙂
THE “HOW FAR” PART IS SO COOL!!
It’s awesome
This is the best
I don’t get the “HOW FAR” part it keeps increasing!
Its how far the planet has traveled since you reading the page.
Thx for everything
(-:
i need facts about the moon, asteroids, comets, and meteors pls
they have the answers if you looked
I pinned this tab, so tomorrow I’ll check how far ALL the planets have traveled.
this is an awesome site
EPIC THE “HOW FAR” PART IS EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MORE EPIC THAN YOU THINK BOB!!!
? i think y’all over did it it is a website to get facts…
The sun be goin so fast dat it forgot to get pick up dat milk at the store!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Really cool!!!!!!
awsome nice planet!
lol kewl
This website is fantastic. Really well-designed and informative! I’m sad to see that I seem to have discovered it after it’s stopped being updated. This site deserves way more love.
Hurry up pluto!
Very good site.Thanks.
Neptune is so far!!!!! That I cant believe it!! Its like 4 million or 4 billion
I love this site. SUPERCOOL
1 word AWESOME
this is a coooooool website
its a god websiteee
Pluto is important people
i applaud your effort
Very awsome
This is SO COOL!!!
I an’t beleive we get to see them move in real time!
I love the planet Uranus, though, even though it’s a bit slow itself.
Dude I can’t wrap my head around the fact that they actually tracked how far the planets have orbited that’s awesome
I ALREADY LOVE THIS WEBSITE
cool
Wow, the Web site was so usefull. I like this Web.
i like space
space is so betaful endless story of why i love space space oh that so cooool so coool
are you trying to write a song??
i LOVE THIS WEBSITE IT CAN TELL ME EVERYTHING ABOUT HOW FAR THE PLANETS HAVE GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT EVEN TELLS HOW FAR THE SUN HAS ROTATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you guys rock
all so amazing!
i love this website it is so cool so handy love it
tanks space facts
a sun
this web site is awesome.love it!!!
it can’t stop using this website
space is cool!!!!!!!
interestin and cool
whoever made this website is veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery smart!!!!!!!!!
Astrophysics is so interesting!mars hear we come!
so amazing
SPACE IS SO COOL!
Space is big
Do you know de way to Pluto?
how do moons orbits differ from planets that orbit the sun? also what simmilarties do they have?
i like space!
much WOW!!!!! LOL
This website is really cool. However, the diagram of the planet’s orbits is incorrect. All of the planet’s orbits are, as Kepler’s First Law states, are elliptical not circular
How far is so cool
These planets are obviously not to scale..,.
Very nice – REALLY nice! Some of the statements and questions you seem to be getting…I do worry about education these days. Really? You have to ask THAT type of question…? I have a 6 year old g-daughter, and she is a bright thing, and has started to ask about planets (they must be touching on them at school) so I have tried to get a visual demo together of the orbits. It’s rather tricky to tell a 6 year old ‘the planets are big, and they orbit round the sun, which is also moving…’.
Huh? Say what…? I’m getting there in VB.Net, and it’s been fun…
A really nice site. When I’ve got the video of my inner planets orbiting I’ll let you know. I have to allow for different speeds…it’s all in the maths…my favourite part!!!!
This is one on the coolest space pages that I have seen
Arithmetic as applied is that of circular orbits around the SUN’s eccentric point.
planets travel at constant orbital speeds around their separate eccentric points
sweeping equal areas in equal periods. An ellipse has two focal points so why
should one point be of more importance?
Can you open a wormhole between the two points? Does this have anything to do with the 1921 measurements that proved Relativity? How does the waves in a sun quake change the data? What about the waves that create stars from clouds of dense dust? What is dark energy or dark matter influence on the data?
this is so cool
tysm for creating this website <3
this website is really helpful for my science project and really cool
so cool thank you.
Sun is going faster than his followers!
sun is going fast.
this is the best
Very awesome ……Thank you. Do you have the Speed that planet x is travelling at as it enters our Solar System?Also its orbiting tract speed when planet x loops around the Sun and gains from slingshot effect. Also if it has a Lot of debris beside it and behind it.Very interested if it drags Asteroids from our asteroid field with it as it passes by the Asteroid Field. Here’s a theory : Should Planet X turn out to be true than it might be possible that it caused the great flood…etc. It also could have caused the end of the Dinosaurs etc. Thank You for your site…JJ.
Hurry up Pluto
It’s “How Far” each planet hat traveled around the sun is kilometers (km)s
hurry up pluto!