Family exploration
The Solar System in 3D for kids: a first journey
A shared journey can begin with three questions: what shines, what orbits and what is biggest? Try this short route with a child and a parent or carer.
Start the 3D journey1. Find our star
The Sun is a star that provides Earth with light. Its gravity holds the Solar System together. Find the Sun in the model and ask: how is it different from a planet?
Rotate the view with a mouse or a finger. The animated glow and plasma help explain an active Sun, but they are not a live view of its surface.
Source: NASA — Sun: Facts
2. Count eight planets
Outward from the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Pluto is a dwarf planet. The first four are rocky planets; Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants, while Uranus and Neptune are ice giants.
Select two planets in the navigation and compare their appearance. Then open “Your sky today” and the “Explore planet sizes” tab to compare diameters in a view designed for that task.
Source: NASA — Planets
3. Rotation and orbit are different
Rotation means spinning around an axis. Orbiting means travelling around another object. Earth’s rotation produces the cycle of day and night; its journey around the Sun defines a year.
Activity: point to Earth spinning, then find the Moon travelling around it. Do not use the animation speed to measure the duration of real astronomical events.
Source: NASA — Facts About Earth
4. Are Saturn’s rings a solid hoop?
The rings contain enormous numbers of pieces of ice and rock. They are not one rigid hoop. Change the viewing angle and describe how their appearance changes.
Ask the child to explain a moon, a ring and a planet in their own words. Return to the model when you need an example.
Source: NASA — Saturn: Facts
5. Ask what the model simplifies
The scene brings planets closer together and changes their scale so you can explore them. Distances, sizes and motion speed do not form one physically scaled Solar System. The animated aurora is an illustration, not a forecast.
Finish with one thing learned and one question to investigate. For outdoor observing, start with a night-time session and an adult. Never look at the Sun through binoculars or a telescope without an appropriate solar filter fitted over the front of the instrument.
Source: NASA — Eclipse Viewing Safety
Sources and further reading
Source material is in English. Instructions describe the current version of Orbit Atlas.
- NASA — Sun: Facts
- NASA — Planets
- NASA — Facts About Earth
- NASA — Saturn: Facts
- NASA — Eclipse Viewing Safety
Sources accessed: .
Prepared by Orbit Atlas with AI assistance using the sources listed. This material has not undergone independent scientific peer review.