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  Scale of the Solar System
Description:

The distance and size of the Earth-Sun system on a 10 billion-to-one scale.
Notes: The diameter of the Sun on the orrery is about 5½ inches. The Earth would be the size of a 1-mm ball bearing on a 10 billion-to-one scale. It would be located about 50 ft. (15 m) away from the Sun, which is just slightly larger than the diagonal distance of the astronomy lab. Place the Orrery on the instructor's computer, have a student hold the end of a 30-m tape measure at the Sun, then walk to the opposite corner of the room. Use a ball point pen to represent the Earth at the correct scaled size and distance.
Location:

NMSR. The orrery is generally on top of the file cabinet. 30-m tape measure is on shelf AA4.
Image: Image here, 600 px wide

 

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