Solar System Distance Calculator
Click the Sun and planets in order
Click at least two bodies above to see distance and travel time.
Solar system distance from the Sun, planet by planet
Every planet's solar system distance from the Sun is measured in astronomical units (AU) — one AU is Earth's own average distance from the Sun, about 149.6 million km (93.0 million mi). Scientists use AU because the raw kilometer figures get unwieldy fast: Neptune alone sits over 4.5 billion km out. The table below lists the average distance from the Sun for planets in the solar system, from Mercury to Neptune.
| Planet | Distance (AU) | Distance (km) | Distance (mi) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | 0.39 | 57.9 million km | 36.0 million mi |
| Venus | 0.72 | 108.2 million km | 67.2 million mi |
| Earth | 1.00 | 149.6 million km | 93.0 million mi |
| Mars | 1.52 | 228.0 million km | 141.7 million mi |
| Jupiter | 5.20 | 778.4 million km | 483.6 million mi |
| Saturn | 9.54 | 1.43 billion km | 886.7 million mi |
| Uranus | 19.19 | 2.87 billion km | 1.78 billion mi |
| Neptune | 30.07 | 4.50 billion km | 2.80 billion mi |
Average distances, not real-time position — planetary orbits are elliptical, so the actual distance shifts throughout each planet's year.
Solar system distance between planets
Pick any two planets above and the calculator works out the solar system distance between planets by comparing each body's average distance from the Sun — the same figures in the table above. It's a simplified, illustrative model rather than a real orbital-mechanics simulation, since actual planet-to-planet distance changes constantly as both planets move along their orbits. Earth and Mars, for example, can be as close as roughly 55 million km at their nearest approach or over 400 million km when on opposite sides of the Sun — this calculator's number is a fixed reference point, useful for getting a feel for scale rather than for real spacecraft navigation.
How big is the solar system, really?
End to end, the solar system distance from the Sun to Neptune is about 4.5 billion km (2.8 billion mi) — roughly 30 times the Earth–Sun distance. Light itself, moving at about 300,000 km/second, takes over 4 hours to cross that gap. Selecting "Speed of Light" as your transport mode in the calculator above gives you that same figure directly, while "Rocket" uses a much slower illustrative cruising speed so you can feel just how vast the distance between planets in the solar system really is compared to a road trip on Earth.
How the travel times are calculated
Each leg takes the straight-line distance between two bodies' average distance from the Sun and divides it by a fixed cruising speed for whichever mode you pick — Walk, Bike, Drive, Airplane, Rocket, or Speed of Light. It's built for fun and for a sense of scale, not as real spaceflight planning: a rocket doesn't cruise at a constant speed, and no real mission flies point-to-point through the Sun's average-distance markers. For real-world distance and travel time between places on Earth, see the main distance calculator.
Frequently asked questions
What are the 8 planets and their distance from the Sun?
The eight planets, in order from the Sun, are: Mercury (57.9 million km / 36.0 million mi, 0.39 AU), Venus (108.2 million km / 67.2 million mi, 0.72 AU), Earth (149.6 million km / 93.0 million mi, 1 AU), Mars (228.0 million km / 141.7 million mi, 1.52 AU), Jupiter (778.4 million km / 483.6 million mi, 5.20 AU), Saturn (1.43 billion km / 886.7 million mi, 9.54 AU), Uranus (2.87 billion km / 1.78 billion mi, 19.19 AU), and Neptune (4.50 billion km / 2.80 billion mi, 30.07 AU). These are average distances — real orbits are elliptical, so the actual distance varies across each planet's year. Click any planet above to see the exact figures the calculator uses.
How far are solar systems from each other?
A "solar system" is a star and everything orbiting it, so this is really a question about the distance between stars, not planets. Our nearest neighboring star system is Alpha Centauri, about 4.24 light-years away — roughly 40 trillion km (25 trillion mi), or about 268,000 times the Earth–Sun distance. Star systems near us in the Milky Way are typically a few light-years apart, though spacing varies enormously by galactic region. That's a completely different scale from planet-to-planet distances inside a single solar system, which this calculator measures in millions or billions of kilometers rather than light-years.
What planet has 5000 hours in a day?
Venus. One full rotation on its axis takes about 243 Earth days — roughly 5,832 hours — the longest day of any planet in the solar system. Venus also rotates backwards (retrograde) compared to most planets, and because of how that rotation interacts with its orbit, a Venusian solar day (sunrise to sunrise) works out shorter, at about 117 Earth days. Either way, Venus is the planet people mean when a day runs into the thousands of hours.
How long is 1 minute in space?
For nearly all practical purposes, 1 minute in space is the same 1 minute you'd experience on Earth. Time dilation from relativity is real, but it only becomes noticeable at extreme speeds or extreme gravity — astronauts on the International Space Station experience a time difference of only about 0.01 seconds over six months. The idea that a minute in space runs dramatically longer usually comes from science-fiction scenarios like Interstellar, where a spacecraft orbits extremely close to a supermassive black hole — nothing in our own solar system comes close to producing that effect.
Is 1 hour in space 1 year on Earth?
Not under normal circumstances — that ratio is fictional, from the film Interstellar, where one hour on a planet near the black hole Gargantua equals about seven years back on Earth, not exactly one year, and only because of that black hole's intense gravity. Real gravitational time dilation does exist (GPS satellites correct for a tiny dilation effect to stay accurate), but nowhere in our solar system, including near the Sun, produces anywhere close to a 1-hour-to-1-year ratio. You'd need to be orbiting something far more extreme, like a black hole, for time to pass that differently.