Download Astronomy Lab #5

Astronomy Lab #1 Creating a Scale Model of
our Solar System
Background Information: According to a scientific theory called the “Big
Bang,” twelve billion years ago there was nothing (no planets, no stars, no
light, nothing) then…something happened and there was an incredibly dense
and small speck filled with light. A fraction of a second later, the Universe
expanded outward from this tiny speck and all matter was formed.
All of the galaxies in the Universe are still moving away from each other as
the Universe expands. Our Solar System is located within the Milky Way
galaxy, a spiral-shaped galaxy within the Local Group (a cluster of galaxies)
that is 100,000 light-years across. [A light-year is how far light travels in
one year or 5,900,000,000,000 (5.9 trillion) miles.] Astronomers believe
there are about 200 billion stars within our galaxy (counting to 200 billion
would take you 3,000 years if you were to count two numbers per second and
never stop for a break.) Everything you see with the naked eye in the night
sky is part of the Milky Way galaxy. Our nearest neighboring galaxy is the
named M31, or the Andromeda galaxy, which is 200 million light-years away.
According to another scientific theory, our Solar System is believed to have
evolved about 4.6 billion years ago from a large cloud of interstellar gas and
dust. The cloud then collapsed inward and the center got hotter and denser,
eventually forming the Sun. Meanwhile the outer parts of the cloud were
spinning and spreading out; as smaller particles of gas and dust collided, they
stuck together forming the planets.
Our Solar System is located approximately 30,000 light-years from the
center of the Milky Way galaxy. Planet Earth is about 93 million miles (149.6
million km) away from the sun. Since our Solar System is so large, we have
designated the distance from the Sun to Earth as one Astronomical Unit
(A.U.) and commonly use this as a unit of measurement.
Part 1: Planet Distances
Questions: What planets make up our Solar System?
How are the planets arranged/ordered?
How large is our solar system?
How far apart are the planets?
Materials:
1 Roll of Toilet Paper
9 “Sticky Note” Papers
Pen or Pencil
Procedure:
Scale: For this activity, we will use a scale of 1 Astronomical Unit (A.U.)
equal to 10 squares of toilet paper.
1. Multiply each of the planet’s A.U. distance (given in Table 1 below) by
10 (second column of Table 1) to calculate where to place the planets
along the rolled-out toilet paper. Record the information in the fourth
column of Table 1.
2. Label your sticky notes by writing the name of one planet on each
piece until all 9 are labeled with a different planet.
3. Roll out the toilet paper and count the squares to determine where to
place each of the planets along the roll. Place the planet sticky notes.
Table 1: Distances from Each Planet to the Sun
Planet
Actual Distance
From Sun (A.U.)
Multiply by Scaled
A.U. Distance
(TP Squares)
Scaled Distance
from Sun
(TP Squares)
Mercury
0.39
10
3.9
Venus
0.72
Earth
1.0
Mars
1.52
Jupiter
5.2
Saturn
9.55
Uranus
19.2
Neptune
30.1
Pluto
39.4
4. Make a scaled drawing of your Solar System showing the location of
each planet from the Sun.
5. Calculate what the scaled distance from the sun to each planet would
be if I wanted to create a scale model of our solar system in Room 125.
(Use 12 meters for the length of the room.)
Hint: First, determine the maximum number of centimeters each A.U.
could be if the Sun were on one wall and Pluto was on the opposite
wall (i.e., if 39.4 A.U. equals 12 meters so how many A.U. are in 1
meter?) Record this information in the third column of Table 2.
6. Record your results in the fourth column of Table 2.
Table 2: Scaled Distance from Each Planet to the Sun in a 12 Meter
Room
Planet
Actual Distance
From Sun (A.U.)
Divide by Scaled
A.U. Distance
(A.U./m)
Scaled Distance
from Sun in 12
Meter Room (m)
Pluto
39.4
3.28
12
Neptune
30.1
Uranus
19.2
Saturn
9.55
Jupiter
5.2
Mars
1.52
Earth
1.0
Venus
0.72
Mercury
0.39
Reflections:
What patterns do you observe concerning the distances between planets in
your model?
Does anything about your scale factor calculations surprise you? Explain your
answer.
What do you notice about the planets compared to the space around them?