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the solar system to scale

ZEbbEDY

By ZEbbEDY
in The Astro Lounge

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JamesF

JamesF

Posted
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It never crossed my mind that a proportionally correct model would show the model Sun as the same size as the real Sun from the perspective of Earth's model orbit. Very cool. 

Nor mine.  And then when it was pointed out, it was obvious that it would :)  No better way to demonstrate it than to compare the two as the Sun rose though...

James

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YorkieGraham

YorkieGraham

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Fantastic movie, really enjoyed the way it was put together. Thank you for sharing. Anybody out there planning  a trip to York we have a 'to scale' Solar System set out on the York to Selby cycle track. Last time I did the ride it was intact other than someone had stolen Pluto out at Riccall near Selby. This was before the Astronomical Union made their decision, so maybe the thief knew something we didn't. Anyway if you live in York or ar visiting with a bike, the model gives you a great perspective of the distances involved. You are very quickly through the inner Solar System then the peddling time starts to increase considerably and you start to realise the staggering size of just our local bit of the universe. Unlike the real Solar System you can also pick blackberries and stop off at an old station for an ice cream. Here is a link to the cycle path website. https://www.york.ac.uk/solar/

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JamesF

JamesF

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Very nice video, I guess you can make the model to any scale you like, bigger/smaller sun, but having that sunrise is just so nice.

Here is a link to the Bridgewater Canal model,  a nice walk with a tea shop.  at this scale how far the next star ?   (read the wiki  :smiley:  :smiley: )

I had no idea that existed, yet it is only a little more than ten miles away.  We were only discussing the possibility of going for a cycle ride along the canal with the family of one of my daughter's friends the other day.  I'm not sure how the children would handle an 11km ride (or 22km there and back), but it would certainly be fun to do.

James

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Mick J

Mick J

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I had no idea that existed, yet it is only a little more than ten miles away.  We were only discussing the possibility of going for a cycle ride along the canal with the family of one of my daughter's friends the other day.  I'm not sure how the children would handle an 11km ride (or 22km there and back), but it would certainly be fun to do.

James

Well, I hope it's still there James - been a few years since.......  but at least you get parking, tea & cake and it's a flat easy ride.  Managed to drop the google man near the canal lock just south of the Canal Centre and the Sun could be seen near the bridge - but that may be a few years old.

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JamesF

JamesF

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I spoke to my wife about it earlier this evening.  Apparently my daughter's school have been taking the younger children there for a few years (year 1-ish).  To late for my daughter though.  So it's certainly still there.

James

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shelby90

shelby90

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In Washington D.C. there is a one to 10-billion scale model of the solar system that you can walk along. Never had the chance to see it, but models like these (and the one in the video) give such a tangible way to begin understanding how big it all is.

JamesF-- agreed!

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Victoria1410

Victoria1410

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Fantastic movie, really enjoyed the way it was put together. Thank you for sharing. Anybody out there planning  a trip to York we have a 'to scale' Solar System set out on the York to Selby cycle track. Last time I did the ride it was intact other than someone had stolen Pluto out at Riccall near Selby. This was before the Astronomical Union made their decision, so maybe the thief knew something we didn't. Anyway if you live in York or ar visiting with a bike, the model gives you a great perspective of the distances involved. You are very quickly through the inner Solar System then the peddling time starts to increase considerably and you start to realise the staggering size of just our local bit of the universe. Unlike the real Solar System you can also pick blackberries and stop off at an old station for an ice cream. Here is a link to the cycle path website. https://www.york.ac.uk/solar/

This sounds amazing!  I hope it is still intact.

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Nigele2

Nigele2

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It all seems rather like a horror movie, just plain scary.  But a few thoughts I had:

Imagine if gravity wasn't such a strong force then sending a rocket to another planet would be like finding a needle in half a million hay stacks.

I'm staggered they find exo planets as these little things are so so small.

And finally and most importantly it makes me realise what a great job my tubes do.  Far from being disappointed as some are when they first buy a scope I'm now quite staggered I can see anything at all :rolleyes: 

Cheers guys and gails  :cool:

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Demonperformer

Demonperformer

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Actually, gravity is an incredibly weak force, it just acts cumulatively over enormous distances.

Consider this experiment: take a pin and put it on a table. Then take a tiny fridge magnet and hold it about a centimeter above it. What happens? You don't need me to tell you that the pin is attracted to the magnet and lifts off the table.

But just think for a second. You have pitted the electromagnetic force being applied by a tiny fridge magnet against the gravitational force being applied by a medium-sized planet - and the fridge magnet won! If gravity were 1 millionth as strong as the electromagnetic force, we would not be able to exist on the surface of our planet.

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Nigele2

Nigele2

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Actually, gravity is an incredibly weak force, it just acts cumulatively over enormous distances.

Consider this experiment: take a pin and put it on a table. Then take a tiny fridge magnet .......t.

Demonperformer yes very true but is it not all relative?  As my little rocket flies close to jupiter is it not gravity that allows me to go into orbit?

For sure if close to jupiter there was a giant fridge magnet  :rolleyes: I would be in trouble :grin: .

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Demonperformer

Demonperformer

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It certainly is, and it is gravity that speeds-up probes heading to the outer solar system (http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/basics/grav/primer.php). But "relative" is exactly the right word. Jupiter is, after all, roughly 4*1024 times more massive than my half-ton space probe.

My post was a (possibly over-)reation on my part to your use of the word "strong". The electromagnetic force is about 4*1037 times  stronger than gravity (http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/forces/funfor.html); that's a fairly big number. And consider again the pin, but before the magnet gets anywhere near it. It is sitting on the table, with only the forces operating between the molecules of the table (a thin piece of wood or plastic) stopping it from being dragged through them onto (or into) the earth by this medium-sized planet's gravity.

But I guess we aren't likely to find any giant tables close to Jupiter, either :grin:

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