WOAH, DOOD

[tvashtarkatena]

I'm planning a scale model of the solar system to be installed on our (Seattle) street this year. It will be scaled such that the sun is 2 inches in diameter. At that scale:

 

A highly motivated snail would travel at one quarter the speed of light.

 

Earth would be 18 feet away.

 

Neptune, the furthest major planet, would be a city block away.

 

Interstellar space would begin about 2 blocks away.

 

Proxima Centauri, our closest stellar neighbor (1/4 inch in diameter at that scale) would be as far away as Grand Junction, CO.

 

The Milky Way would still be 21 million miles across.

 

The Andromeda Galaxy would still be well beyond the orbit of Jupiter.

 

The furthest galaxies we can image would still be over 300 times the radius of our solar system away.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 18, 2013 by tvashtarkatena

[ivan]

tells me everythign i need to know.

 

I AM THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE UNIVERSE.

[tvashtarkatena]

The sun and planets out to Jupiter will be on my property, so don't piss me off.

 

As far as I know there are no solar system models than include other star systems out there. They're all too large (public art and all that). This will give me an excuse to head out to Colorado one of these days (with Proxima Centauri in the glove box). Perhaps I'll even have the city's permission to install it.

Edited March 18, 2013 by tvashtarkatena

[kevbone]

You have way too much time on your hands.

[tvashtarkatena]

Not enough time to spread the word on 911, but I do what I can.

 

Figuring this stuff out isn't too time consuming with a spreadsheet and a little grey matter. Neither is making a few bronze medallions with the appropriate symbology.

Edited March 18, 2013 by tvashtarkatena

[kevbone]

Not enough time to spread the word on 911, but I do what I can.

 

 

What word on 9/11 are you referring too?

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Not enough time to spread the word on 911, but I do what I can.

 

 

What word on 9/11 are you referring too?

 

don't believe everything you see!

[rob]

Where are you going to put Uranus?

 

 

hahahahahahahahahahaha

[tvashtarkatena]

Did you know that the moon around Uranus has methane geysers?

[tvashtarkatena]

You have way too much time on your hands.

 

I could have that information for you by 3 o'clock, but you don't want to know.

[rob]

I read once that Uranus has pretty heavy winds

[kevbone]

I read once that Uranus has pretty heavy winds

 

[tvashtarkatena]

Meh. Uranus is relatively calm.

 

Calmer than you are.

 

[ScottP]

I assign my 8th graders the task of creating a Solar System scale model on campus with a 10cm diameter sun. Every year they are blown away by both the size of the planets relative to the sun, and how far away each of them is. Last year a student said, "The Sun must be really dense if its gravity can influence something that small, that far away.

[tvashtarkatena]

I'm going this project in concert with a buddy up the street and his 12 year old son Alex - the kid who made a Rainier attempt with us last year.

 

That's what stuck me, too - the reach of gravity.

 

Maybe someday we'll figure what it is.

 

The sun is dense - its specific gravity averages 1.4. It also contains 99.9% of the solar system's mass.

 

But it's not all that big, relatively speaking. VY Canis Majoris would engulf the solar system far beyond the orbit of Jupiter - well over a 100 foot radius (relative to 1 inch) on my scale.

Edited March 19, 2013 by tvashtarkatena

[Off_White]

Trash, that's kind of a cool project. If you're serious about Grand Junction, a good friend of mine is the Library Director there, and might be able to help you with an official installation.

 

Oh, and Scott, that's a great school project too, nothing like putting astronomical things into human perspective.

[ivan]

Trash, that's kind of a cool project. If you're serious about Grand Junction, a good friend of mine is the Library Director there, and might be able to help you with an official installation.

would love to see that

[tvashtarkatena]

Thanks, OW. I am serious - mos def gonna happen on my end, but Proxima Centauri would up the WOAH factor quite a bit. Shoot me his contact info if you will so we can discuss the preliminaries of how it might work in his end. No hardware yet on my end - still designing it. The footprint's really small...a few square feet or so plus viewing area is all I'd need for the Grand Junction end.

 

Of course, now Colorado could have their own Proxima/Alpha Centauri solar system with Kepler rockin the exoplanets.

Edited March 19, 2013 by tvashtarkatena

[tvashtarkatena]

I just ordered the sun from China. 2, actually - always helps to have a backup.

[rob]

I just ordered the sun from China.

 

wow, the Chinese really DO own everything

[tvashtarkatena]

Golden calcite. Should look OK on stainless (!!!) or bronze.

 

According to the website, it's also supposed to connect me to my higher self.

[rob]

Golden calcite. Should look OK on stainless (!!!) or bronze.

 

According to the website, it's also supposed to connect me to my higher self.

 

I can connect you with your higher self.

[tvashtarkatena]

I seem to have particularly spiritual but not religious friends in that sense.

[ScottP]

(snip)

 

The sun is dense - its specific gravity averages 1.4. It also contains 99.9% of the solar system's mass.

 

But it's not all that big, relatively speaking. VY Canis Majoris would engulf the solar system far beyond the orbit of Jupiter - well over a 100 foot radius (relative to 1 inch) on my scale.

 

[video:youtube]