Editing Solar System (section)

=== Distances and scales ===
[[File:Solar System distance to scale.svg|center|thumb|upright=2.5|Comparison of the distances between planets, with the white bar showing orbital variations. The size of the planets is not to scale.]]
[[File:Orbital distances in the solar system linear scale.png|thumb|Relative orbital distances in the Solar System visualized as a condensed rectangle]]

The radius of the Sun is {{Cvt|0.0047|AU|km mi|sigfig=1|abbr=unit}}.<ref name="arxiv1203_4898">{{Cite journal |last1=Emilio |first1=Marcelo |last2=Kuhn |first2=Jeff R. |last3=Bush |first3=Rock I. |last4=Scholl |first4=Isabelle F. |year=2012 |title=Measuring the Solar Radius from Space during the 2003 and 2006 Mercury Transits |journal=[[The Astrophysical Journal]] |volume=750 |issue=2 |page=135 |arxiv=1203.4898 |bibcode=2012ApJ...750..135E |doi=10.1088/0004-637X/750/2/135 |s2cid=119255559}}</ref> Thus, the Sun occupies 0.00001% (1 part in 10<sup>7</sup>) of the volume of a sphere with a radius the size of Earth's orbit, whereas Earth's volume is roughly 1&nbsp;millionth (10<sup>−6</sup>) that of the Sun. Jupiter, the largest planet, is {{val|5.2|u=AU}} from the Sun and has a radius of {{Convert|71000|km|AU mi|abbr=on|sigfig=2}}, whereas the most distant planet, Neptune, is {{val|30|u=AU}} from the Sun.<ref name="Williams-Jupiter">{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=David R. |date=23 December 2021 |title=Jupiter Fact Sheet |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/jupiterfact.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122180353/https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/jupiterfact.html |archive-date=22 January 2018 |access-date=28 March 2022 |website=NASA Goddard Space Flight Center}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=David R. |date=23 December 2021 |title=Neptune Fact Sheet |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/neptunefact.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119045252/http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/neptunefact.html |archive-date=19 November 2016 |access-date=28 March 2022 |website=NASA Goddard Space Flight Center}}</ref>

With a few exceptions, the farther a planet or belt is from the Sun, the larger the distance between its orbit and the orbit of the next nearest object to the Sun. For example, Venus is approximately 0.33&nbsp;AU farther out from the Sun than Mercury, whereas Saturn is 4.3&nbsp;AU out from Jupiter, and Neptune lies 10.5&nbsp;AU out from Uranus. Attempts have been made to determine a relationship between these orbital distances, like the [[Titius–Bode law]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jaki |first=Stanley L. |date=1 July 1972 |title=The Early History of the Titius-Bode Law |url=https://aapt.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1119/1.1986734 |url-status=live |journal=American Journal of Physics |volume=40 |issue=7 |pages=1014–1023 |bibcode=1972AmJPh..40.1014J |doi=10.1119/1.1986734 |issn=0002-9505 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220420161227/https://aapt.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1119/1.1986734 |archive-date=20 April 2022 |access-date=2 April 2022}}</ref> and [[Mysterium Cosmographicum|Johannes Kepler's model]] based on the [[Platonic solid]]s,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Phillips |first=J. P. |date=1965 |title=Kepler's Echinus |journal=Isis |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=196–200 |doi=10.1086/349957 |issn=0021-1753 |jstor=227915 |s2cid=145268784}}</ref> but ongoing discoveries have invalidated these hypotheses.<ref name="Boss">{{Cite magazine |last=Boss |first=Alan |date=October 2006 |title=Is it a coincidence that most of the planets fall within the Titius-Bode law's boundaries? |url=https://astronomy.com/magazine/ask-astro/2006/10/is-it-a-coincidence-that-most-of-the-planets-fall-within-the-titius-bode-laws-boundaries |url-status=live |magazine=Astronomy |volume=30 |issue=10 |page=70 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316135255/https://astronomy.com/magazine/ask-astro/2006/10/is-it-a-coincidence-that-most-of-the-planets-fall-within-the-titius-bode-laws-boundaries |archive-date=16 March 2022 |access-date=9 April 2022 |series=Ask Astro}}</ref>

Some [[Solar System model]]s attempt to convey the relative scales involved in the Solar System in human terms. Some are small in scale (and may be mechanical—called [[Orrery|orreries]])—whereas others extend across cities or regional areas.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ottewell |first=Guy |date=1989 |title=The Thousand-Yard Model: or, Earth as a Peppercorn |url=http://www.noao.edu/education/peppercorn/pcmain.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160710065429/http://www.noao.edu/education/peppercorn/pcmain.html |archive-date=10 July 2016 |access-date=10 May 2012 |website=NOAO Educational Outreach Office}}</ref> The largest such scale model, the [[Sweden Solar System]], uses the 110-meter (361-foot) [[Avicii Arena]] in [[Stockholm]] as its substitute Sun, and, following the scale, Jupiter is a 7.5-meter (25-foot) sphere at [[Stockholm Arlanda Airport]], 40&nbsp;km (25&nbsp;mi) away, whereas the farthest current object, [[90377 Sedna|Sedna]], is a 10&nbsp;cm (4&nbsp;in) sphere in [[Luleå]], 912&nbsp;km (567&nbsp;mi) away.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tours of Model Solar Systems |url=http://internal.psychology.illinois.edu/~wbrewer/solarmodel.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110412124455/http://internal.psychology.illinois.edu/~wbrewer/solarmodel.html |archive-date=12 April 2011 |access-date=10 May 2012 |publisher=University of Illinois}}</ref><ref name="Sedna">{{Cite web |title=Luleå är Sedna. I alla fall om vår sol motsvaras av Globen i Stockholm |url=http://www.kuriren.nu/arkiv/2005/11/17/Lokalt/1510647/Lule%C3%A5-%C3%A4r-Sedna.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715074955/http://www.kuriren.nu/arkiv/2005/11/17/Lokalt/1510647/Lule%C3%A5-%C3%A4r-Sedna.aspx |archive-date=15 July 2010 |access-date=10 May 2010 |publisher=Norrbotten Kuriren (in Swedish)}}</ref> At that scale, the distance to Proxima Centauri would be roughly 8 times further than the Moon is from Earth.

If the Sun–Neptune distance is scaled to {{Convert|100|m|ft|4=-1}}, then the Sun would be about {{Convert|3|cm|abbr=on}} in diameter (roughly two-thirds the diameter of a golf ball), the giant planets would be all smaller than about {{Convert|3|mm|abbr=on}}, and [[Earth's diameter]] along with that of the other terrestrial planets would be smaller than a [[flea]] ({{Convert|0.3|mm|abbr=on|disp=or}}) at this scale.<ref>See, for example, {{Cite web |last=Office of Space Science |date=9 July 2004 |title=Solar System Scale |url=http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/5-8/features/F_Solar_System_Scale.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827184323/http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/5-8/features/F_Solar_System_Scale.html |archive-date=27 August 2016 |access-date=2 April 2013 |website=NASA Educator Features}}</ref>