Many people have heard that you can drive from the Earth to the Sun in 8 hours, but have you ever wondered how small the entire solar system would be if the diameter of the Earth was only 1 millimeter?
Lead
The gravitational range of the sun is the solar system, so if there is no external interference, all the celestial bodies in the solar system will revolve around the sun, which is the same as the planets orbit the sun, that is, they are all affected by the gravitational pull of the sun and thus orbit the sun.
We don't have a very intuitive idea of the size of the solar system, so there are actually a lot of models of the solar system that can be simulated on earth, but these models are generally centered on the sun, with the planets orbiting the sun.
However, the use of such a model is still very large, not easy to manipulate, and because they are all physical objects, it still takes up a lot of space when moving.
Therefore, when scientists study the scale of the solar system, they have carried out a model of the solar system reduction, which is very good, can make the solar system very small, convenient for scientists to observe, and sometimes can be carried on the body, so this model is also very useful in teaching.
So if the diameter of the Earth were really reduced to 1 millimeter, what would the size of the solar system become?
1. The size of the solar system.
The solar system is centered on the sun, including the sun, 8 planets, a number of asteroids and many natural satellites and small celestial bodies similar to Saturn's rings, etc., the mass of the sun in the solar system accounts for 99.86% of the total mass, so the gravitational pull of the sun is its most important force in the solar system.
If there were only the sun and 8 planets left in the solar system, then the center of mass of the solar system would be different from the center of mass of the sun, so the solar system would not be able to be calculated in a simple form of static and motion, but it can still be looked at when studying them.
The gravitational range of the sun can cover the entire solar system, and from this point of view, the celestial bodies in the solar system are affected by the gravitational pull of the sun, constantly moving closer to the sun or flying away from the sun, and in the process of rotation and revolution.
Neptune is the farthest celestial body from the Sun in the solar system, and according to the law of gravitation, the gravitational pull of the Sun is inversely proportional to the distance between the celestial bodies, so the closest celestial body to the Sun experiences the greatest solar gravitational pull, and the farthest celestial body from the Sun experiences the smallest solar gravitational pull.
In this range, the orbits between the various celestial bodies are gradually decreasing, and there is no crossover and fault in between, so in combination with this, the place where Neptune is located can be used as the boundary of the solar system, and the diameter of the solar system is the diameter from Neptune to the sun, which can also be called the diameter.
If you want to further describe the size of the solar system, you can use light years, which is a relatively large unit, 1 light year is equal to about 9,460.7 billion kilometers, and the diameter of the solar system is from the sun, until the distance from Neptune's position is equal, this distance is a total of 374,000 light years, so the diameter of the solar system is about 2 light years.
This unit is still difficult to imagine intuitively, so the diameter of the solar system can be described in astronomical units, which refers to the average distance from the earth to the sun, which is about 1.496*10^8 kilometers, and it will be significantly better to use this distance.
In the model of the solar system, the use of real objects is not used, so it can be reduced, so it is very intuitive, if the earth and these objects are reduced, the size of the sun will be very exaggerated, so the size of the sun in the model should also be reduced.
2. The distance between celestial bodies.
The distance between the celestial bodies in the solar system model is very large, and if they are reduced, the distance between the celestial bodies will appear very small, so that the size of the model can be greatly reduced, and with the reduction of the model, people can better observe the distance between the celestial bodies and the size of the planets.
When reducing the model, the radius of the sun is generally reduced, this ratio is generally 10^9, if this ratio is substituted into the formula, the diameter of the sun is about 1.39*10^6 kilometers, and the diameter of the sun is 1.39 kilometers after reduction.
So if the diameter of the earth is reduced to 1 millimeter, it is reduced according to the ratio of 10^-3, so that the diameter of the sun is about 1.39 meters, which can be said to be very large, and the diameter of the largest celestial body in the solar system is more than 1,000 kilometers, and these celestial bodies are rarely born together, let alone form a ball.
The distance between the earth and the sun is about 1.49610^8 kilometers, and when it is reduced to 1 millimeter, it is 1.49610^5 kilometers, about 149.6 meters, and if this distance is reduced by 10^5 proportions, then the distance is about 1.496 meters.
By using 1 million times reduction, you can draw according to this intuitive distance when drawing, and of course, you can continue to reduce the diameter of other celestial objects, so that you can see the distance between celestial objects more intuitively.
Neptune's distance from the Sun is 30.07 AU, and when the model is reduced by a factor of 1 million, 1 AU is about 1.5 centimeters, so the distance between Neptune and the Sun is about 45.1 centimeters, which is the size of 1 A4 paper, and the diameters of other planets and other celestial bodies in the solar system are also in this range.
At this time, the diameter between the celestial bodies and the position between the planets are limited, so that the relative distance and scale between the celestial bodies can be intuitively seen, and this model can be used for astronomical education.
3. Study more about the solar system.
The sun has a very large mass, accounting for 99.86% of the mass of the solar system, which means that it has a strong gravitational force, which not only creates the planetary system of the solar system, but also competes with distant galaxies.
The gravitational range of the sun is very wide, it can cover the entire solar system, but it is much more than that, and the gravitational range of the sun means that if there is no gravitational interference of other galaxies outside this range, then the celestial bodies in the solar system will always revolve around the sun.
If the gravitational pull of other galaxies interferes with the solar system, then the celestial bodies in the solar system will be affected by them and deviate, and you can see how striking the Sun is from this wide range.
The sun is the only celestial body in the solar system that can emit light, the sun is only 460 million years old, and the solar system is 4 billion years old, after the formation of the sun, it continues to shine on the celestial bodies of the solar system, so that they can continue to brighten, these are important factors for other planets in the solar system to become so beautiful.
The astronomical unit we use now is based on the distance from the earth to the sun, which is 1.496*10^8 kilometers, which is a very large value for the average person, which is difficult to understand, but in astronomical research, it is often necessary to use a very large value, so the astronomical unit is used to describe the distance of the celestial bodies in the solar system.
The use of astronomical units makes these values very small and easier to compare, which is very suitable for comparing and studying celestial bodies in the universe, so it is very convenient in research.
epilogue
If the model is really reduced to 1 millionth, then all the celestial bodies of the solar system will be too small to be seen, and the solar system will be nothing more than a bunch of tiny dots, and in the universe, the solar system is originally an insignificant existence.
And the existence of the universe is so vast and mysterious, human beings will continue to harvest everything in the exploration, and will continue to be attracted by everything, and the future of mankind will definitely be better.