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.
JUPITER is the fifth planet from the sun at a distance of 492 million miles. It is by far the largest planet in the solar system, containing more than double the mass of all the other planets combined. A Jupiter day is only 10 hours long, but its year is about 12 Earth years long.
Jupiter is a Gas Giant with an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium, with clouds of ammonia and water. If there is a solid body at the center, it would be no larger than the Earth. Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot is a giant storm, twice the size of Earth, that has raged for hundreds of years. Jupiter has more than 75 moons, a few are large enough to have active volcanos and oceans of water beneath the surface that might support life.
In My Solar System, Jupiter is 21 miles from the Sun and is 247 inches in diameter (the size of a 2-story house.)
CREDITS:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/solar_system/
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/overview/