Outer Planets

Actual Elapsed Time: 100 years (3.2 billion seconds)

The outer planets of the solar system - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto - take long periods of time to revolve around the sun. In this animation, the action is sped up more than 300 million times which lets us see that each planet takes a different period of time to complete a revolution. Jupiter and Saturn make several trips around the sun. Uranus, the next planet furthest away from the sun, finishes one trip and starts on another. Neptune, further away from the sun, barely makes one half of a revolution. To complete a full revolution takes Neptune 164 years. Small and distant Pluto, makes it only 1/4 of the way around the sun in this animation. Completing the whole trip takes nearly 250 years.

How This Clip Was Made:

This animation was created by animating the positions of planets over time using astronomical data and equations for celestial motion. Animator: Bob Hone.

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