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How to make a scale model of the solar system

“Build a Solar System” is a great site for helping to visualize the size of the solar System and (as the author writes) the “REAL definition of ’space.’”

You start by filling in the size of your sun (in inches or mm).   The site then calculates the relative sizes and distances of the various planets.  As helpful as these stats are, the site provides additional useful information, such as the speed of light in your universe (in inches per second or mm per second), the measurement of a light year and distances to distant stars and galaxies.

I decided to make my sun 100 inches in diameter.  The site then calculated for me that my earth would be .9 inches in diameter, orbiting 895 feet from my sun.  The speed of light in my universe would be 21 inches per second, a light year being 10,727 miles away my sun. 

This Solar System calculator is quite helpful for visualizing our “neighborhood,” along with lots of useful links.

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About the Author

Erich Vieth is an iconoclastic attorney, musician and writer living in the Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. He and his wife Anne Jay have two daughters, aged 9 and 11.

Comments (1)

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  1. Erich Vieth says:

    Here’s another site for visualizing the size of the objects of the solar system.  Click here. 

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