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Space & Scale
Space, deep time and the size of things. Every site here exists to give you the one thing a textbook diagram cannot: actual scale.
17 sites
Fly out through a mapped model of our stellar neighbourhood until the Sun is one unremarkable dot among thousands.
- <1 min
- Desktop
One astronomy image a day since 1995, each with a paragraph from an actual astronomer and an archive going back decades.
- <1 min
NASA's real-time 3D model of every mission in flight, letting you ride along with a probe on its actual trajectory.
- 10 min
- Desktop
Tells you exactly when the space station will pass over your garden, and which direction to look.
- 2 min
A map of the solar system drawn to true scale, meaning most of your scrolling is spent crossing absolutely nothing.
- 10 min
- Desktop
A calendar of every conjunction, eclipse and meteor shower coming up, with charts drawn for your own location.
- 10 min
Travel outwards at light speed while hearing which radio hits have reached each distance, oldest at the far edge.
- 2 min
- Sound on
- Desktop
Every photograph, video and audio recording NASA has released, searchable and free to use for anything.
- 10 min
The official live stream, which for long stretches is simply Earth turning below the space station.
- <1 min
Drag one slider from quantum foam to the cosmic web, with every object in between labelled at its true size.
- 2 min
Ride a lift from the ground to geostationary orbit, passing every layer of atmosphere and satellite on the way.
- 2 min
NASA's tracker for when the space station is visible from where you live, with sighting alerts by email.
- 2 min
The planetarium in a browser tab — set your location and it shows exactly what is above you right now.
- <1 min
Scroll outwards from a human to the observable universe, with each step making the previous one look absurd.
- 2 min
Live positions and finder charts for planets, comets and asteroids, updated continuously and free of clutter.
- <1 min
Full-resolution images from the James Webb telescope, with the explanations of what you are actually looking at.
- <1 min
A browser planetarium stitched from real survey data, letting you pan the whole sky in visible light, infrared or radio.
- 10 min
- Desktop
How we picked these
Every entry in Detour is hand-sorted rather than scraped: filed under one category, given one to three moods, and placed in a time band for how quickly it pays off. The practical facts — cost, sign-up, sound, device and whether it is safe at a desk — are recorded per site and shown on every card, so you can rule things out before you click.
Space & Scale: questions
How many sites are in Space & Scale?
17 sites, each hand-sorted by category, mood and how long it takes to pay off.
Which of these sites are free with no sign-up?
17 of the 17 are free and need no account. None of them are paid.
Do these sites work on a phone, and are they safe for work?
12 of 17 work on a phone; the rest are desktop only. 17 are safe for work and 16 work with the sound off.