The Astro Cube displays 6 planets: Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune together with 13 of their
largest satellites. Comet Halley is able to orbit around all cube faces. The Sun and the inner planets Mercury and
Venus are hidden inside the physical core of the cube.
In any solved state, all 13 satellites are positioned around their respective planets and the comet orbit is an
unbroken loop. Up to 36 solved states do actually exist, because Comet Halley can travel to any of the 6 cube faces.
In addition, satellites Moon, Io, Titan, Ariel and Triton can be positioned at different spots around their respective
planets. Note that the labels of satellites of a same planet share a same and unique color.
Discover astronomical facts, for instance the order of the planets in the solar system by following
the comet path. Try to recognize the planets from their images and learn more about the largest 13 satellites in the
solar system. The cube also visualizes the very elongated orbit of Halley that enables the comet to travel long distances
from Earth (actually from Venus) to Neptune.
The layout of the Astro Cube was created in 2010 by Stefan Berinde.
Halley's Comet (front face)
| Category: |
short-period comet |
| Orbital period: |
75.3 Julian years |
| Last perihelion: |
9 February 1986 |
| Next perihelion: |
28 July 2061 |
| Dimensions: |
15.3 x 7.2 x 7.2 km |
Halley's Comet or Comet Halley is the best-known of the short-period comets, and is visible from Earth every 75 to
76 years. Halley is the only short-period comet that is clearly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the only
naked-eye comet that might appear twice in a human lifetime. Other naked-eye comets may be brighter and more spectacular,
but will appear only once in thousands of years. Halley's returns to the inner Solar System have been observed by
astronomers since at least 240 BC, and recorded by Chinese, Babylonian, and medieval European chroniclers, but were not
recognized as reappearances of the same object. The comet's periodicity was first determined in 1705 by English astronomer
Edmond Halley, after whom it is now named. Halley's Comet last appeared in the inner Solar System in 1986 and will next
appear in mid-2061.
Halley's orbital period over the last three centuries has been between 75 and 76 years, though it has varied
between 74 and 79 years since 240 BC. Its orbit around the Sun is highly elliptical. The perihelion, the point in the
comet's orbit when it is nearest the Sun, is just 0.587'21 AU (between the orbits of Mercury and Venus), while its aphelion,
or farthest distance from the Sun, is 35.33 AU (roughly the distance of Pluto). Unusually for an object in the Solar System,
Halley's orbit is retrograde; it orbits the Sun in the opposite direction to the planets, or clockwise from above the Sun's
north pole. The orbit is inclined by 18° to the ecliptic, with much of it lying south of the ecliptic. Due to Halley's
highly eccentric orbit, it has one of the highest velocities, relative to the Earth, of any object in the Solar System. The
1910 passage was at a relative velocity of 70.56 km/s.
The Solar System
In increasing distance from the Sun, the planets and some dwarf planets of the Solar System are:
Mercury
| Category: |
planet |
| Orbital period: |
87.969'1 days |
| Radius: |
2'439.7 km (0.382'9 Earths) |
| Satellites: |
none |
Venus
| Category: |
planet |
| Orbital period: |
224.700'69 days |
| Radius: |
6'051.8 km (0.949'9 Earths) |
| Satellites: |
none |
Earth (front face)
| Category: |
planet |
| Orbital period: |
365.256'363'004 days |
| Radius: |
6'371.0 km |
| 1 satellite: |
The Moon |
Mars (left face)
| Category: |
planet |
| Orbital period: |
686.971 days (1.88 years) |
| Radius: |
3'396.2 km (0.533 Earths) |
| 2 satellites: |
Phobos, Deimos |
Ceres
| Category: |
dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
1'681.63 days (4.60 years) |
| Radius: |
473 km (0.074 Earths) |
| Satellites: |
none |
Jupiter (top face)
| Category: |
planet |
| Orbital period: |
4'332.59 days (11.861'8 years) |
| Radius: |
71'492.0 km (11.209 Earths) |
| 67 satellites: |
Ganymede, Callisto, Io, Europa |
Saturn (back face)
| Category: |
planet |
| Orbital period: |
10'759.22 days (29.457'1 years) |
| Radius: |
60'268.0 km (9.449'2 Earths) |
| Satellites: |
About 200 observed satellites with at least 62 moons:
Titan, Rhea, Iapetus |
Uranus (right face)
| Category: |
planet |
| Orbital period: |
30'688.5 days (84.020'5 years) |
| Radius: |
25'559.0 km (4.007 Earths) |
| 27 satellites: |
Titania, Oberon, Umbriel, Ariel |
Neptune (bottom face)
| Category: |
planet |
| Orbital period: |
60'182.0 days (164.8 years) |
| Radius: |
24'764.0 km (3.883 Earths) |
| 14 satellites: |
Triton |
Orcus
| Category: |
possible dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
89'552.0 days (245.18 years) |
| Diameter: |
917.0 km |
| 1 satellite: |
Vanth |
2003 AZ84
| Category: |
possible dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
90'352.0 days (247.37 years) |
| Diameter: |
727.0 km |
| 1 satellite: |
discovered in 2007, unrecovered in 2012 |
Huya
| Category: |
possible dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
90'477.0 days (247.72 years) |
| Diameter: |
406.0 km |
| 1 satellite: |
S/2012 38628 Huya 1 |
Pluto
| Category: |
dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
90'581.0 days (248.0 years) |
| Radius: |
1'187.0 km (0.18 Earths) |
| 5 satellites: |
Charon, Hydra, Nix, Kerberos, Styx |
Ixion
| Category: |
possible dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
91'295.847 days (249.95 years) |
| Diameter: |
617.0 km |
| Satellites: |
none |
2005 RN43
| Category: |
possible dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
97'192.0 days (266.10 years) |
| Diameter: |
679.0 km |
| Satellites: |
none |
2002 MS4
| Category: |
possible dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
269.06 years |
| Diameter: |
934.0 km |
| Satellites: |
none |
Salacia
| Category: |
possible dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
99'088.0 days (271.29 years) |
| Diameter: |
854.0 km |
| 1 satellite: |
Actaea |
2004 GV9
| Category: |
possible dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
271.55 years |
| Diameter: |
680.0 km |
| Satellites: |
none |
2002 UX25
| Category: |
possible dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
101'758.0 days (278.60 years) |
| Diameter: |
665.0 km |
| 1 satellite: |
not named yet |
Varuna
| Category: |
possible dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
102'646.1 days (281.02 years) |
| Diameter: |
668.0 km |
| Satellites: |
none |
Haumea
| Category: |
dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
103'774.0 days (284.12 years) |
| Radius: |
718.0 km |
| 2 satellites: |
Hi'iaka, Namaka |
Quaoar
| Category: |
possible dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
104'451.3 days (285.97 years) |
| Diameter: |
1'110.0 km |
| 1 satellite: |
Weywot |
2005 UQ513
| Category: |
possible dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
104'955.0 days (287.35 years) |
| Diameter: |
498.0 km |
| Satellites: |
none |
Makemake
| Category: |
dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
112'897.0 days (309.09 years) |
| Radius: |
715.0 km |
| Satellites: |
none |
Chaos
| Category: |
possible dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
309.100'6 years |
| Diameter: |
600.0 km |
| Satellites: |
none |
Varda
| Category: |
possible dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
113'779.342 days (311.51 years) |
| Diameter: |
705.0 km |
| Satellites: |
none |
2002 AW197
| Category: |
possible dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
118'761.0 days (325.14 years) |
| Diameter: |
768.0 km |
| Satellites: |
none |
2007 OR10
| Category: |
possible dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
546.6 years |
| Diameter: |
1'535.0 km |
| Satellites: |
none |
Eris
| Category: |
dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
203'830.0 days (558.04 years) |
| Radius: |
1'163.0 km |
| 1 satellite: |
Dysnomia |
2007 UK126
| Category: |
possible dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
234'324.7 days (640.55 years) |
| Diameter: |
599.0 km |
| 1 satellite: |
not named yet |
2012 VP113
| Category: |
possible dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
4'268.0 years |
| Diameter: |
450.0 km |
| Satellites: |
none |
Planet Nine (2016 hypothesis)
| Category: |
planet |
| Orbital period: |
10'000 to 20'000 years |
| Radius: |
13'000 to 26'000 km (2 to 4 Earths) |
| Satellites: |
unknown |
Sedna
| Category: |
possible dwarf planet |
| Orbital period: |
11'400.0 years |
| Diameter: |
995.0 km |
| Satellites: |
none |