About Helioscope

Helioscope simulates the Solar System using Newtonian gravity in Gaussian gravitational units (k = 0.01720, distances in AU, time in days).

The velocity-Verlet integrator advances the simulation in 0.02-day steps. The Moon's 5.14° inclination to the ecliptic causes solar eclipses to occur roughly every 6 months.

Eclipse detection uses the Earth-centric angular separation between Sun and Moon. Alignment below 1.6° triggers an event; below 0.55° is a total solar eclipse.

Controls: drag to orbit · scroll/pinch to zoom · Space to pause · [ / ] to adjust time warp