Our Solar System is so large it is hard to understand sizes and distances involved because all the numbers are also very large. We often hear these large numbers, learn them, and repeat them when asked:
The Sun is 865,000 miles in diameter.
The Earth is 93,000,000 miles from the Sun.
The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second.
It takes light 8.5 minutes to travel from the Sun to the Earth.
About the only number we can truly understand is the 8.5 minutes. We use that time period on a daily basis. That's the time it takes to cook a well done steak on the grill. That's the time it takes to get to the local grocery store. That's a little less than the time it takes me to run a mile.(Hey, I'm retired, give me a break.)
186,000 miles? has your car traveled that far? 23 Round-trips New York to Los Angeles? How about 24 hr/day at 60 mph for 129 days? It's hard to grasp the distance, isn't it?
We won't even attempt to understand 93,000,000.
Welcome to My Solar System.
My Solar System is a scale model at a ratio of about 23,000,000 : 1.
In My Solar System:
The Sun is a 200 foot diameter water tank. All other distances, sizes, and measurements are based upon this 200 foot diameter Sun.
The Earth is about 4 miles from the Sun.
The speed of light is about 34 mph.
MARS is the Fourth planet from the Sun. It is a dusty, cold, desert world with a very thin atmosphere.
It is 153 million miles from the Sun. A day on Mars is a little over 24 hours. A Martian year is 687 Earth days long.
Mars is known as the Red Planet because iron minerals in the Martian soil oxidize, or rust, causing the soil and atmosphere to look red.
On a Summer day temperatures can reach 70°F, but at night it will plummet to -100°F. There are ice caps at the poles, where temperatures can get as low as -195°F.
In My Solar System, Mars is 6.2 miles from the Sun and is 11.6 inches in diameter (a sheet of typing paper is 8.5" x 11")
CREDITS:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/solar_system/
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/overview/