ASTR 1031 Sizes and Scales

Diameter of the scaled Earth

0

What is the scaled distance to Deneb (in centimeters)?

0.16

Zoom out x10 What is the position of the sun relative to the center of the Galaxy?

In between the center and the edge

The Voyager 1 spacecraft is now at the edge of our solar system, and it is traveling with a speed of about 0.0001 light-years/year. The nearest star is 4.2 light-years away. How many years will it take for Voyager to get there? Comment on your answer.

It will take the Voyager 42,000 years to get to the nearest star.

Zoom out x20 How far is Deneb from the Sun in light years?

1600

What is an everyday real object that is the scaled size of the distance to Neptune?

A Small tree (about 3 meters)

Distance to Deneb in scientific notation (in AU)

1.0 x 10^8

The star Vega is the brightest in the summer sky. Its distance is so great that light itself, which travels 300,000 km every second, takes 27 years to reach Earth. Thus the distance to Vega is 27 light-years (l.y. = a unit of DISTANCE). The star Deneb appears almost as bright but is about 1,600 light-years away. Astronomical distances are so huge that it takes light 8 minutes just to get from the Sun to the Earth (1 A.U.). Distance to Vega

1.7 x 10^6

Now we'll use a smaller scale to visualize the whole solar system (the Sun and all the planets). The image below is a scaled drawing of the inner solar system: the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Astronomers often use a distance called the Astronomical Unit (AU) to represent the average distance between the Sun and the Earth (1 AU = 1.5 x 108 km). The outer planets are more distant from the Sun and would be located off the screen. These planets and their approximate distances are: Jupiter (5 AU), Saturn (10 AU), Uranus (20 AU), and Neptune (30 AU). 1. Scale Size The drawing below (and on your handout) represents the "actual" size of the inner solar system, what is the scale of 1 AU (i.e., how many centimeters represent the Earth-Sun distance above)?

10

The diameter of Earth is about 12,756 kilometers (km), or about 8000 miles. The Sun is a huge ball of hot hydrogen gas 1,400,000 km (1.4 x 106 km) in diameter (about 1 million miles). Diameter of the object representing your scale model Sun is 10 cm. This is typical size of the naval orange. Diameter of the scaled Sun is:

10

The picture below is the Milky Way. Measure the diameter of the Milky Way in this picture (only if you have printed it out! otherwise use 10 cm)? What is your scale size (i.e., how many centimeters represent 100,000 light-years)? What is the Scaled size of the Milkyway?

10

Zoom out x10 twice How big is the 'universe' in this view in light years?

10 million

Scaled distance to Deneb (in Km)

10,000

The Sun is 150,000,000 km away from the Earth. Using the same scale as before, determine the scale distance the Earth would be located from your model Sun. The equation you need is partially given below. You need to determine what would be on the right side of the equation. Scale model of Earth-Sun distance (in meters):

10.7

Scaled distances to Saturn:

100

If the distances to all the stars we see in the sky were shrunk down to the same scale as before (1 AU = 10 cm), what would be the scaled distances to Vega and Deneb? Think of it like this: if you place the inner solar system in part C on the ground, how many kilometers would you have to walk to get to Vega and Deneb? You have to come up with the equation for this part using the same techniques as before. Be sure to convert your answers to kilometers. Scaled distance to Vega (km)

170

Scaled Distances to Uranus

200

zoom out x20 How far is Vega from the Sun in light years?

30

Scaled distance to Neptune

300

Start by clicking 12.5 light years from the Sun. How many stars are located within 12.5 light years of the Sun?

33

Scaled distances to Jupiter:

50

Name an Earthly distance that is equal to the scaled distance of Deneb.

Across the U.S. and back (about 6000 miles) Previous PageNext Page

Zoom out x10 then zoom out x14 What does the observable universe look like?

Clusters of galaxies spread throughout

Name an Earthly distance that is equal to the scaled distance of Vega.

Distance from MTSU to Nashville and back (about 60 miles)

Zoom out x20 Towards what cluster are the Milky Way and our local group of galaxies being moved by gravity?

Virgo