Ariel in 3D: live position and orbit

The brightest of Uranus's major moons, with the youngest surface and long canyons that may hold traces of past cryovolcanic flows.Ariel is shown at its real position, computed from NASA/JPL ephemeris data. The view opens on Ariel; you can travel in time, switch between the educational overview and the true-scale voyage, and compare it with every other body of the solar system.

Orbits

Uranus

Radius

579 km¹

Mass

1.25 × 10²¹ kg¹ (derived value)

Surface gravity

0.25 m/s²¹ (derived value)

Mean distance from Uranus

190 900 km²

Orbital period

2.52 days²

Sidereal rotation

2.52 days² (derived value)

Axial tilt

0.2°³ (derived value)

Missions

Voyager

Sources

NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics, Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters. read 2026-09-17. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sats/phys_par/

NASA NSSDCA, Planetary and Satellite Fact Sheets. read 2026-09-17. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planetfact.html

NASA NAIF, Generic PCK kernel (IAU rotational elements). read 2026-09-28. https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/naif/generic_kernels/pck/pck00011.tpc

3D Solar System

Galaxy

01 / 06 Initializing...

Display settings

In the scene

Preset

A column header sets the whole column, a group row its group, a row one object. Spacecraft and interstellar objects start hidden.

What the scene shows, object by object
Object	Label	Object	Orbit

Asteroid and comet field

Drawn in Exploration mode, one dot per known orbit.

Rendering

Accessibility and units

Offline use

Download every ephemeris file so the app can place the bodies at any date without a network. Nothing is downloaded until you ask.

Navigation

Drag orbit the view
Scroll · pinch zoom in / out
Click a body or its label to travel to it
Educ · Explo compressed overview vs true-scale voyage
Clock · date scroll to time-travel, tap to pick
Space play / pause time
/ search a body
T back to now
F full screen
M switch Educ / Explo
? show this help

Textures: USGS Astrogeology / NASA-JPL (public domain) · Solar System Scope (CC BY 4.0) · NOAA ETOPO 2022 · Halley, Itokawa, Gaspra, Ida: Philip Stooke / NASA PDS · Ryugu: ISAS/JAXA Hayabusa2 ONC (modified) · Lutetia, 67P: ESA/Rosetta OSIRIS, ESA, H. Sierks (CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO, modified).
Illustrative surfaces: Bodies never mapped globally have an illustrative texture, not a scientific map; the body card says so, and Sources lists them.
3D shape models: NASA PDS: NEAR (Eros), Hayabusa (Itokawa), Galileo (Ida, Gaspra) · ISAS/JAXA: Hayabusa2 (Ryugu) · NASA/Goddard SVS: OSIRIS-REx (Bennu)
Data: Astronomy Engine · NASA/JPL Horizons · JPL SBDB · NASA GIBS · NOAA NCEP GFS · NASA Planetary Data System (mission context products) · IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature · Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · ERA5, Copernicus Climate Change Service (ECMWF)