Pick a date, run the script, and get the Solar System as it really was or will be on that day.

What's included

• Sun, Mercury to Neptune and the Moon, placed with the JPL approximate Keplerian elements (Standish) and a Meeus-style lunar position, valid 1800–2050.
• Real axial tilts and rotation (IAU orientation), and Saturn's rings with the real opening angle for the chosen date.
• Real textures for Earth, the Moon and the star sky, with optional constellation lines (credits included). They are packed inside the .blend.
• 14 cameras: general, inner system, top views, Sun, Earth, Earth–Moon and one per planet.
• Studio lighting (not physical, good-looking) or physical lighting (1/r², per-camera exposure).
• Adaptive scale: sizes follow the camera distance so planets stay visible; set TRUE_SCALE for real proportions.
• Optional animation (DAYS_PER_SECOND, DURATION_DAYS), labels, orbit lines and a soft glare in the compositor. 366 frames by default.
• A ready-to-render .blend (Cycles) with the script embedded, plus the script itself so you can change any setting and rebuild.
• README with what is real and what is not, CREDITS with all references.

What is illustrative (we say it up front)

• Positions are an approximation (arc-minute class), not a high-precision ephemeris.
• Default date is 2026-10-04; the script computes the Sun's elevation above Saturn's ring plane as 7.7° then. Try START_DATE "2032-04-10 00:00" for the maximum opening.
• With the default adaptive scale, sizes and distances are NOT to scale; the README says what is scaled.
• Planet surfaces other than Earth and the Moon are illustrative procedural materials, not photographs. No moons of other planets, dwarf planets or comets.

Who it is for: science communicators, teachers, planetarium and YouTube creators, and anyone who needs the Solar System as it looked on a specific date.

Data: JPL (Standish), Meeus, IAU WGCCRE 2009. Textures: NASA (credits in CREDITS.md). Not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.