Explore the heliosphere - the solar-wind bubble around the Sun - with teaching spheres at the termination shock (~94 AU) and heliopause (~121 AU, Voyager 1 in 2012).
Termination shock ~94 AU; heliopause ~121 AU (Voyager 1, 2012); typical solar wind near Earth ~400 km/s. Radial AU spacing is compressed for one-screen teaching.
Drag to orbit and scroll or pinch to zoom. Click the Sun, shock sphere, heliopause, Voyager marker, or Earth schematic for the facts panel.
Solar Wind Heliosphere 3D Explorer
See the heliosphere as nested teaching spheres: the cyan termination shock near ~94 AU and the magenta heliopause near ~121 AU, with outward solar-wind particles labeled around a typical ~400 km/s speed.
Voyager 1 crossed the heliopause in 2012 and became the first spacecraft in interstellar space. That milestone pins the outer sphere in this explorer. The inner shock marks where the solar wind slows from supersonic to subsonic before the heliosheath.
Use Pause wind to freeze the particle stream, Hide labels to clear the AU callouts, and the wind scrubber to change the teaching readout between 200 and 800 km/s around the ~400 km/s default.
- Sun at center with PointLight illuminating the bubble
- Termination shock sphere at ~94 AU (AU teaching scale)
- Heliopause sphere at ~121 AU with Voyager 1 (2012) marker
- Outward particle stream suggesting solar wind (~400 km/s labeled)
- Play/pause, label toggle, and wind-speed scrubber controls
- Runs fully in the browser with the vendored three.js engine - no account, no upload
Students map the outer solar-system boundary not shown on a compact solar-system page, heliophysics readers compare shock vs heliopause distances, and curious visitors get a one-screen bubble picture of our local plasma cavity.
| Feature | Figure | Source note |
|---|---|---|
| Termination shock | ~94 AU | Heliophysics order-of-magnitude |
| Heliopause | ~121 AU | Voyager 1 crossing, 2012 |
| Typical solar wind | ~400 km/s | Near-Earth slow wind order-of-magnitude |
Everything renders on your device with WebGL. The 3D engine loads once (about 0.7 MB) and is cached; no scene data is sent to a server.
The scene is an educational visualization with compressed radial AU spacing for one-screen teaching - it is not a full magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) heliosphere simulation, and the Earth marker is enlarged and pulled inward so the Sun stays readable beside the outer spheres.
For a step-by-step walkthrough, read the Solar Wind Heliosphere 3D Explorer step-by-step guide. The Space 3D collection also includes the Solar System 3D view of the inner planets and the Aurora 3D Explorer for solar-wind effects at Earth.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Solar Wind Heliosphere 3D Explorer show?
The solar-wind bubble around the Sun with teaching spheres at the termination shock (~94 AU) and heliopause (~121 AU), plus an outward particle stream labeled near a typical ~400 km/s wind speed.
Where do the 94 AU and 121 AU figures come from?
Termination shock ~94 AU and heliopause ~121 AU follow published heliophysics / Voyager order-of-magnitude figures. Voyager 1 crossed the heliopause in 2012.
What does ~400 km/s mean here?
It is the typical slow solar-wind speed near Earth (order-of-magnitude). The scrubber changes the teaching readout and outward particle animation rate; real wind varies with solar cycle and latitude.
Is this an MHD heliosphere model?
No. It is an educational visualization with compressed radial AU spacing for one-screen teaching. It does not solve magnetohydrodynamic equations or forecast heliosheath structure.
Why is Earth not at true 1 AU scale?
At true 1 AU next to a 121 AU heliopause the Earth marker would sit on top of the Sun on screen. The blue marker is enlarged and pulled inward so the Sun remains readable beside the outer spheres - disclosed in the facts panel.
Can I hide the AU labels?
Yes. Hide labels clears the shock, heliopause, and Voyager callouts. Pause wind freezes the particle stream. AU table restores the boundary summary in the facts panel.