On 03/11/2015 11:01, Claude Hartman wrote:
The relative sizes are typical of these devices - horribly off. The
distance to the Moon is on average about 30 times the diameter of the
Earth.
The Sun happens to be 400 times the Moon's diameter, and 400 times as
far away. That coincidence means the Sun and Moon appear to be the
same size when viewed from Earth.
A little estimate of size shows why a properly scaled model is not
practical. If the model Earth is about 6 inches, the Moon should be
15 feet away and about 2/3 of an inch in diameter. In contrast, the
shadow of this model's Moon would cover Australia !
Indeed, the distances are truely mind-boggling. I never really
appreciated the sheer size, even just of our solar system ,until I saw
this stunning short film of the solar system laid out on a desert plain,
with a child's marble for the Earth.
https://vimeo.com/139407849
Steve
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