Worlds Largest Scale Model Solar System?

Richard_at_work writes "As the BBC is reporting, the UK is to attempt to create the worlds largest scale model of the solar system ever attempted. At a scale of 1:15million, this brings the distance between the Sun (positioned in Cheshire at the Jodrell Bank Telescope site) and the Earth to 15km or 10 miles, although you will need to travel the entire length of the UK to visit all of the planets. Interesting to note is the distinct lack of a 10th planet :) As well as the 9 planets and the sun, also shown on the model will be Halleys Comet and several asteroids. Would have been great if they had included probes such as Voyager 1." Maybe this claimant for world's largest solar system model will have to expand to keep up.

Comments

U. Maine System

[Dr. Mojura]

I thought the Maine Solar System Model was supposed to be the world's largest:

At forty miles from Pluto to Sun, the largest complete three-dimensional scale model of the Solar System in the World.

Although the one mentioned above also claims 40 miles from Sun to Pluto. One of them has to be the largest, although the one in Illinois claims to have Guinness backing them. U. Maine may not have applied for the claim.

Re:U. Maine System

[hkfczrqj]

This swedish model seems to be the largest one, with a 1:20 million scale (Pluto - Sun distance is about 300 km). However, the british model will be even larger.

In Washington DC

[way2trivial]

they have one along the smithsonian museums
it's the length of the mall, each one has a to scale model of the astral body, and a indicator how many feet to the left or right you must go to the next body.. it's very unreal to realize that if the eart were the size of 'this dot' then the sun is 5 blocks thattaway..

Re:In Washington DC

[gnu-generation-one]

"they have one along the smithsonian museums, it's the length of the mall"

They have one in Sweden, it's the length of the country:

"The Sweden Solar System is the world's largest model of our planetary system, at a scale of 1:20 million. The Sun is represented by the Globe arena in Stockholm, the largest spherical building in the world. The planets are placed and sized according to scale with the inner planets being in Stockholm and Jupiter (diameter 7.3 m) at the International airport Arlanda. The outer planets follow in the same direction with Saturn in Uppsala and Pluto in Delsbo, 300 km from the Globe. At each planet station, exhibits provide information about astronomy and the natural sciences, and also about related mythology and culture."

Link to the Swede site
List of solar system models

Basic math

[product byproduct]

Would have been great if they had included probes such as Voyager 1.

A 1:15million scale model of the ~4m-wide Voyager 1 probe would measure ~250 nanometers.

Also the BBC says:
The scale of 1 to 15 million reduces the distance between the Earth and the Sun to about 16km (10 miles).

150,000,000 km / 15,000,000 = 10 km, not 16 km.

I think this has already Been Done

[Neuropol]

The Peoria Chapter of the Astronomical Soceity got a bunch of kids together via school groups and constructed the same thing in 1993. It stretched out all over the city of Peoria, IL.

From the site -- "Centered on the Sun at Lakeview Museum, the farthest planet, Pluto, is 40 miles away in Kewanee."

Re:What is the scientific value of it?

[Richard_at_work]

Actually, Uranus is to be placed in Bath, the city where its discoverer William Herschel lived when he spotted the planet in 1781. Coincidentally, its less than 5 miles from where I am typing this.

It's in Sweden

[Anonymous Coward]

The largest model solar system is in Sweden, with the Globe Arena acting as the sun.

Adjust decimal point.

[Anonymous Coward]

Still a 93-meter ball would be impressive.

The largest solar system model

[fredrikj]

The world's current largest solar system model is located in Sweden, scale 1:20 million.

Have you tried Celestia?

[Slinky Saves the Wor]

You can also boldly go where no man has gone before from the comfort of your own home and your chair, and the vicinity of your refridgerator and assorted beverages, with Celestia, a real-time 3D space simulator.

Making useful scale models

[logpoacher]

Completely agree with you - it cannot possibly create a good sense of scale (especially for children) because few people have a national sense of scale - it's just hours on a motorway. I remember how surprised one of my friends was, on doing a cross UK cycle ride (Lands End to John O'Groats), and realizing that the Scottish border was pretty close to the half-way point.

I made a scale model of the solar system for my kids in the field out the back. You need 600m of field. Here are the scales, shrinking by a factor of 1e11 (so 100km -> 1mm), giving diameter and distance from sun:

• Sun (Sol) 140 mm -
• Mercury: 0.5 mm 6m
• Venus: 1.2 mm 10m
• Earth: 1.3 mm 15m
• (Moon: 0.3 mm 0.04m from Earth)
• Mars: 0.7 mm 23m
• Jupiter: 14.3 mm 78m
• Saturn: 12.1 mm 142m
• Uranus: 5.1 mm 287m
• Neptune: 5.0 mm 450m
• Pluto: 0.2 mm 591m
• AlphaC-A: 167 mm 4,200 km
• Sirius: 249 mm 8,600 km
• Betelgeuse: 37 m 427,200 km
• Milky Way: 100,000,000 km

(Sorry about the crap formatting - I couldn't get this through the /. lameness filter without losing tabulation.)

And it's fantastic!! You make the planets out of blu-tac or dough. It's great making the tiny ones - you're making a sphere 0.2mm across! - you roll out a thin hair of material and cut it with a knife. Jupiter's about the width of my thumb. You put little rings on the ringed planets. And you use a balloon for the Sun. Then you pace out the positions, and place them on the path, with a little marker so you can see where they are. Combine this with a good play with Celestia, and you're talking about some pretty scarily educational stuff. Celestia's fantastic, but the exponential speed control (though totally necessary) means that you can't get a perspective on size and distance.

Then you reveal (from UK) that the nearest star is in New York! (actually, that's a bit far, Cairo is a better match), and Sirius (which they know) is in San Francisco...

And look at Betelgeuse! - it's HUGE! - twice the size of our house - and it's about where the moon is. And the Milky Way ... well, it all gets abstract again. But it's interesting to stand at Pluto, look towards the Sun, close your eyes a bit, and imagine that you're on the edge of an empty ball with the Sun at the centre. And then turn around, and there's nothing else before America... just emptiness....

Pretty good.

And what's weird is that so few people have any sense of scale here - my wife figured that Alpha Centauri would be in a town a few km away.

I guess that this big model they're making is a PR stunt - it raises awareness, and gets people to play with things like Celestia. After all, they seem to be trying to create a memorable impression and a sense of distributed ownership ("We own Jupiter") rather than actually draw the big picture.

Re:Great for distance comparison, but thats it!

[n0mad6]

Actually, "Alpha Centauri" is not a physical star, but system of stars that appears to be one from Earth. There are three stars in the system, of which the one called Proxima Centauri is the closest to us .