Super Planet Crash: Create Your Own Solar System

This online simulation was created by Stefano Meschiari (a postdoctoral fellow at The University of Texas at Austin) and allows would-be gods to create their own solar system of planets orbiting a central star. As you add more planets — with masses ranging from that of Earth to a giant planet with 300x the mass of Earth up to a dwarf star with 30,000x Earth’s mass — the gravitational forces between the planets may lead to your solar system’s doom. Earn points for the length of time your solar system survives, with bonuses for having more planets, habitable planets, and even a double-star system.

Can you survive 500 years? Click here to give it a shot. Pro tip: try placing a brown dwarf star near your sun and watch the sun wobble like mad.