Math Is Fun Forum
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#1 2015-09-19 09:00:36
To scale solar system model built across 7 miles of Nevada desert
"If you treat the Earth as a marble, what would an accurate, to-scale model of the Solar System actually look like? Something much larger and expansive than a textbook illustration would suggest. To explain the sheer scale of our planetary system, Wylie Overstreet, Alex Gorosh and some friends decided to build their own model at a dry lakebed in Nevada. Using a reported scale of 1 astronomical unit per 176 metres, the group leveraged seven miles of empty desert to plot the planets and etch their orbital lines into the dirt. Sure, you can't print it out or keep it on your desk, but it's a novel idea and does a fantastic job of putting our Solar System into perspective."
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#2 2015-09-19 10:00:05
- bobbym
- bumpkin
- From: Bumpkinland
- Registered: 2009-04-12
- Posts: 109,606
Re: To scale solar system model built across 7 miles of Nevada desert
Hi;
Nice model.
In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.
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#3 2016-05-24 17:07:22
- RussL
- Member
- Registered: 2016-05-24
- Posts: 19
Re: To scale solar system model built across 7 miles of Nevada desert
That is way cool. What gets me is if you put the sun beside some of the other stars out there it would be like grain of sand beside a basketball, or even smaller in some cases.
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#4 2016-05-25 01:00:50
- phrontister
- Real Member
- From: The Land of Tomorrow
- Registered: 2009-07-12
- Posts: 4,876
Re: To scale solar system model built across 7 miles of Nevada desert
Another perspective...
"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson
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#5 2016-05-25 06:48:01
- bobbym
- bumpkin
- From: Bumpkinland
- Registered: 2009-04-12
- Posts: 109,606
Re: To scale solar system model built across 7 miles of Nevada desert
Nice video!
In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.
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