NASA's Free 3D Tool Lets Anyone Explore Thousands of Alien Worlds

A Universe at Your Fingertips

What if you could leave the solar system behind, zip across the galaxy, and orbit a distant star — all from your couch? That's exactly what NASA is inviting the public to do with its Eyes on Exoplanets tool, a free, browser-based 3D experience that transforms anyone with an internet connection into an interstellar explorer. A newly published tutorial from NASA walks users through every feature of the platform, and the timing couldn't be better: the tool received a significant update in May 2026.

When you gaze at the night sky, there's at least one planet for every star you see. Scientists have confirmed more than 6,000 planets outside our solar system — called "exoplanets" — and estimate our Milky Way galaxy has billions more. Eyes on Exoplanets puts that staggering catalog right at your fingertips, rendered in stunning, navigable 3D.

What You Can Actually Do With It

With this 3D interactive tool, you can visit all the stars beyond the Sun where we've found other planets. Choose a star or exoplanet and see an artist's concept of what it might look like. Spin it around to see its sun and planetary system. Learn how long a trip there from Earth would take at light speed — or by jet plane, or family car! That last detail alone makes the tool irresistible — it's one thing to know a planet is 40 light-years away, and another entirely to grasp that a road trip there would take roughly 450 million years.

You can study the real versions of planets and stars cited in your favorite science fiction, see which planets reside in habitable zones where liquid water could exist on their surfaces, or search "Where We Explore" — stars that future space telescopes will target when looking for Earth-like planets. You can also choose your location on Earth and see what's in the sky above you right now. That local sky feature bridges the gap between abstract astronomy and the actual stars visible on any given night.

Digging Deeper Into Star Systems

When you select a star, you have three different view options. Starting in System View, you will see the star and where planets are located around it. The shaded green area marks the habitable zone, the region around a star where a planet could have liquid water on the surface, a key to the search for life beyond Earth. It's a simple visual cue, but it carries enormous scientific weight — that green band is essentially the cosmic "Goldilocks" region every planet hunter is looking for.

Under "How to Detect a Planet in the System," users can learn about the different ways to discover an exoplanet and see how many planets have been found with each technique, as well as the prospects for discovering more. For each confirmed exoplanet, you'll see an artist's concept of what it might look like and see how it compares to other planets. Planets also have an option to learn more, where you can see how far away it is, how long it would take to get there, how it was discovered, and which observatory found it.

A Freshly Updated Experience — and More to Come

Eyes on Exoplanets had a release on May 18, 2026, that included several changes to make the app more user-friendly, along with the usual assortment of bug fixes. The update reflects NASA's ongoing commitment to keeping the platform accessible and polished for a general audience, not just scientists and students.

The broader context makes this tool feel especially timely. NASA's next great orbiting observatory, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, now has an official launch date — eight months ahead of schedule. After it launches August 30, 2026, the Roman Telescope will create enormous cosmic panoramas, potentially capturing more than 50 times as much sky in its first five years as the Hubble Space Telescope has in 30 years. As Roman begins delivering a flood of new exoplanet discoveries, Eyes on Exoplanets will be the public's front-row seat to explore every new world added to the catalog — no physics degree required.