solar system models
Miniature cosmic replicas
Solar system models are physical or digital representations showing the sun and planets in their orbital arrangement.
The classic classroom version hangs spheres from wires or mounts them on rods—useful for teaching but wildly inaccurate in scale, since actual planetary distances would make any room-sized model invisible.
The science fair featured student-built solar system models.
Computer simulations can better capture orbital mechanics and relative distances.
- orreryMechanical solar system model
- planetariumProjected sky exhibit hall
- sunEarth's primary star
- heliocentrismSun-centered astronomical theory
- kinetic sculptureArt piece with movement
diorama · hanging mobile · coat hanger · science fair · orbital mechanics · armillary sphere · moon · celestial sphere · globe · Newtonian mechanics · sphere · astronomical clock · orbit · rotate · spin · space · Kepler · ball
- kids' sciencescience kits, science fairs, STEM, experiments, chemistry sets
- Astronomy HistoryCopernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, Ptolemy
- Space Educationplanetarium, astronomy class, space museum, astronaut training, rocket science
solar system modelslight-years
Units of astronomical distance
astronomical units · interstellar space · interplanetary space
solar, system, model, solarium, solarize, solarization, systemic, systemize, systematic