solar system planets sun to scale James O’Donoghue

A video by planetary scientist James O’Donoghue explains how size, distance, and space make capturing our solar system in an accurate model so tricky.

Most models of the solar system aren’t to scale because if they were, you would barely be able to see the planets.

These stunning animations show how huge our solar system is.

Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Most models of the solar system aren’t completely accurate, and there’s a good reason for that.

It’s not laziness or scientific misunderstanding — an accurate, to-scale portrayal of the solar system just wouldn’t look that interesting. You have to zoom in to see what’s going on.

James O’Donoghue, a planetary scientist at the Japanese space agency (JAXA) and formerly at NASA, recently ran into this problem. He created a series of animations that explore the difficulty of accurately depicting our solar system.

„Think about the vastness of space long enough and chills are sent down the spine,“ O’Donoghue said on Twitter.

This series of his videos explains how size, distance, and space make solar system models so tricky.

A stunning animation by a planetary scientist shows how huge our solar system is — and why that makes it so hard to depict

5 Bilder Open slideshow