Orrery

Go to
Keith's Home page 		Finding a
formula for
the Equation of Time
 (a Java applet) 		Go to
Keith's
Java applet index page
See Keith's
Automated Astrolabe
(a Java applet)

If you had a java-enabled browser, you would see:

the orbits of the planets and the moon. The positions of the planets and moon are shown for the set date, which can be any number of days before or after 1st January 2000, the number of days being set with buttons. The scale can also be set.

The phase of the moon is separately illustrated.

Click on the link to download the
12 applet class files and the
html file in .zip form (approx 25K):
plan.zip.
This will allow you to run
this Orrery program off-line.

The applet which you can see in the separate window shows the orbits of the planets and the moon. The positions of the planets and moon are shown for the set date, which can be any number of days before or after 1st January 2000, the number of days being set with buttons. The scale can also be set.

The phase of the moon is separately illustrated.

Unfortunately you need a fast computer to show this orrery efficiently. If you hold down a plus or minus button, the number of days should change twice per second.