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Guy Ottewell
Make a model of the solar system--all you need is a thousand yards and some objects, most very small. All model planet sizes and locations are provided.
This ia a Great Exercise
Author: John Baitinger I made scale models instead of using the peppercorn, walnut, etc. The WOW factor is worth the time.
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How Big is the Solar System?
(Editor: National Optical Astronomy Observatory)
Date: 10/19/2005
Date Description: How Big is the Solar System? If you have the fortitude to hunt up some materials, find a 1,000 yard patch of ground to work with (you can double back), and invest some time, you can make a model of the solar system that will give you a new perspective on its scale. In this model, the Sun is an 8" diameter ball and Mercury, the first planet, is but a pinhead located ten paces away. It gets better--Earth is a peppercorn 26 paces from the Sun, and, jumping out a bit, Jupiter, a chestnut, is 135 paces from the Sun. Among other things, walking along this model can give you a sense of the vast emptiness of space, interrupted occasionally by tiny model planets.
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Record Link
<a href="https://www.compadre.org/informal/items/detail.cfm?ID=652">Ottewell, Guy. The Thousand Yard Model. 1989.</a>
AIP Format
G. Ottewell, (1989), WWW Document, (https://web.archive.org/web/20210417021139/https://www.noao.edu/education/peppercorn/pcmain.html).
AJP/PRST-PER
G. Ottewell, The Thousand Yard Model (1989), <https://web.archive.org/web/20210417021139/https://www.noao.edu/education/peppercorn/pcmain.html>.
APA Format
Ottewell, G. (1989). The Thousand Yard Model. Retrieved February 12, 2026, from https://web.archive.org/web/20210417021139/https://www.noao.edu/education/peppercorn/pcmain.html
Chicago Format
Ottewell, Guy. The Thousand Yard Model. 1989. https://web.archive.org/web/20210417021139/https://www.noao.edu/education/peppercorn/pcmain.html (accessed 12 February 2026).
MLA Format
Ottewell, Guy. The Thousand Yard Model. 1989. 12 Feb. 2026 <https://web.archive.org/web/20210417021139/https://www.noao.edu/education/peppercorn/pcmain.html>.
BibTeX Export Format
@misc{
Author = "Guy Ottewell",
Title = {The Thousand Yard Model},
Volume = {2026},
Number = {12 February 2026},
Year = {1989}
}
Refer Export Format
%A Guy Ottewell %T The Thousand Yard Model %D 1989 %U https://web.archive.org/web/20210417021139/https://www.noao.edu/education/peppercorn/pcmain.html %O text/html
EndNote Export Format
%0 Electronic Source %A Ottewell, Guy %D 1989 %T The Thousand Yard Model %V 2026 %N 12 February 2026 %9 text/html %U https://web.archive.org/web/20210417021139/https://www.noao.edu/education/peppercorn/pcmain.html Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.
Citation Source Information
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