- First we decided how long we wanted our solar system to be, i.e. the distance from our start point, the Sun, to our end point, Pluto. Our system is 1.2 miles long.
- Next we divided the actual distance (we found accurate data for these distances at the NASA web site) from the Sun to Pluto by 1.2 miles, this gave us our conversion factor.
- Make sure you've converted all your data to miles, or whatever your base dimension is.
- We then divided each of the distances to the other 8 planets by this conversion factor, and we had our scale
- Finally we divided the diameters of each planet by the same conversion factor, so our solar system would be completely accurate.
- Most planet figures will give their radius, so careful to multiply by 2 for the planet diameter, an easy error to make. Also, for you purists, we did not use the equatorial diameter.
So You Want To Make Your Own?
- So You Want To Make Your Own?
And don't forget to view our calculations or see our map.
Any questions? Feel free to
EMAIL Bill at 
