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written by 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.
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Astronomy
- Astronomy Education
- Solar System
- Middle School
- High School
- Elementary School
- Lower Undergraduate
- Instructional Material
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Mirror: https://www.mrwillpe.com/uploads/7/5/8/2/7582…
Access Rights: Free access
Restriction: © 1989 Guy Ottewell
Has a copyright or other licensing restriction.
Keywords: Scale, Solar System Size, planets, separation in space
Record Creator: Metadata instance created January 5, 2004 by Kara Lehman
Record Updated: Sep 26, 2021 by Lyle Barbato
Other Collections:

This ia a Great Exercise

Author: John Baitinger
Posted: March 5, 2006 at 3:38PM
Source: The Astronomy Center collection

I made scale models instead of using the peppercorn, walnut, etc.  The WOW factor is worth the time.

» reply

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.

The Thousand Yard Model is presented by the National Optical Astromony Observatories.

ComPADRE is beta testing Citation Styles!

Record Link
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 May 28, 2023, 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 28 May 2023).
MLA Format
Ottewell, Guy. The Thousand Yard Model. 1989. 28 May 2023 <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 = {2023}, Number = {28 May 2023}, 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 2023 %N 28 May 2023 %9 text/html %U https://web.archive.org/web/20210417021139/https://www.noao.edu/education/peppercorn/pcmain.html


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