This is my Solar System Model interface. I created it originally as a way of playing with JavaScript and jQuery, but I have since recreated it as a React App.

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(Please note that the project is hosted on Render and may take a few minutes to load.)

How It Works

The model utilizes the VSOP87 (French acronym of "Secular Variation of the Planet's Orbits 1987") mathematical model of the solar system.

The VSOP formulas take a given Julian Calendar Date value julian and returns the (x,y) coordinate data of each planet. The angle is found using the arctan function.

(x, y) = getplanet ( julian )

angle = arctan ( y / x )

Each planet is then transformed using rotate ( angle ) with the sun as its origin to set it at the correct angle.

In order to animate the model, the revolution speed (e.g. 1 day/s) is taken and divided by the framerate (e.g. 1/60 days/s) and added to the julian date value. The operation is done 60 times every second, so that the date is updated to:

julian = julian + speed

Each planet is updated accordingly, 60 times per second.

Technologies Used

The following technologies were used in making this interface.

1. JavaScript
2. React
3. Next.JS
4. Tailwind CSS
5. SVG