Blog #9: The View from a Marble

So this post isn't really related to galactic astronomy, but timing, as they say, is everything, and my mom just happened to send me this video a couple hours ago (one of the few times waiting until the last minute has actually helped me). Also shout out to my mom for her impeccable timing and her ability to find awesome videos.

The basic idea of the video is that these guys decided it would be sweet to make a to-scale model of the solar system, since if you search "solar system" in Google Images you'll get super artistic but scientifically bogus depictions of the solar system with all the planets practically touching each other:

(This one, on the other hand, is 100% accurate.) As a result, it's really hard for anyone to visualize the solar system in any other way, and most people probably don't even realize that these depictions are so flawed. Even the distance between the Earth and the Moon usually isn't portrayed accurately, and this is what the guys in the video start with. 

After demonstrating the scale distance between the Earth and the Moon using a marble to model the Earth and thus reigniting everyone's appreciation for the Moon landings, these dudes decide to take it to the next level and model the entire solar system based on Earth-as-marble. If they had gone off of my Google Image results of the solar system's scale, they probably could've done the whole thing in my dorm room...but to do it to the actual scale, they need seven whole miles of open space. Based on our humble abode being the size of a marble. Seven miles. 

So they go out to the middle of nowhere and drive around a bunch to create these to-scale orbits. One of the moments that stood out to me was around 2:50, when they're setting up Mars. It's this tiny marble 269m away from the center, and the narrator says, "We've got a couple of robots rolling around on that one." Again, it renewed my sense of awe at our space program and the fact that we were able to launch multiple probes that far, to land on that small of a target. 'Murica. 

Another moment that really got to me was around 4:08 in the video, where they show the orbit of Neptune, and they have to zoom out drastically before you can see any of the other orbits. I know this whole post has basically been me saying, "WOW the solar system is so big" but it is really really big. I'm just bummed that they didn't include Pluto -- and I'm sure I'm not the only one -- but if they had, they would have needed an extra 4-5 miles to include Pluto's entire orbit. 

Anyway, their finished product is really beautiful. Although I understand why the insane scale is often neglected in depictions of the solar system, it's really important to be reminded how tiny we are once in a while. I think it helps us to appreciate what we have already done as well as how much is left to be accomplished -- plus it is definitely humbling. After all, if all we have is the view from a marble, it's incredible to imagine what else could be out there.