5.4
BILLION
YEARS LATER
0
DAYS ON
EARTH
Formed more than 4.5 Billion years ago, our Solar System is a group made of our Sun and the celestial bodies orbiting around it.
This is a top-view model of the Solar System, and as familiar as it seems, what you're seeing is very different from reality.
HOW DIFFERENT?See those pixels orbiting that yellow center? You guessed it, those are the planets. Large as they may be, here they seem like grains of dust, compared with the vastness that is our Solar System.
The rocky planets of the Inner Solar System are orbiting tightly together, while the gas giants are chilling at a comfortable distance from the Sun. Because the gravitational pull of our star isn't powerful out there, these planets can spin slower, so a year here takes decades, or even centuries compared to Earth.
let's go backNow we can see all the planets clearly, from Mercury to Neptune.
Did you know that Mercury is orbiting so closely to the Sun that it's gravitationally locked with the star? Because of the Sun's immense pull, Mercury is always facing with the same side towards it.
By the way, there's one more thing that's distorted in this model. Can you guess what it is?
what is it?How huge, you ask? It is about 99.8% of the total mass of our Solar System. You could fit about 1 million Earths inside of it, with some room to spare.
Why does this look so different from what we learned in school?
Just like with the planets' orbits, most models compensate for the difference in size between the Sun and the planets in orbit, simply because most planets would be invisible next to it.
adjust sizesHere's a more familiar sight! This model may not be accurate, but it's definitely more useful.
By the way, did you know that our Moon isn't that unique in the Solar System? There are a total of 168 natural satellites orbiting around six of the eight planets. With 79 known moons, Jupiter is the champion of this list.
Not surprising, given its size and gravitational pull.
DON't press thisIn 5.4 billion years, the Sun will enter what is known as the red giant phase of its evolution. This will cause the core to heat up and get denser, supercharging its fusion furnace, overcoming Sun's gravitational pull, and causing it to grow in size hundreds of times.
At the peak of this phase, the Sun will have a radius of 1.2 AU, engulfing Mercury, Venus and most likely Earth as well...
but not yetThankfully, we're living in a peaceful time of our Solar System, revolving at a safe distance from the Sun, in the Goldilocks zone.
Hope this demo has helped you grasp the immense beauty that lies in our own cosmic backyard. If you this useful, don't hesitate to like, share and clone this project.
I really enjoy crafting these animated pages, so if you have a suggestion for the next one, let me know!
MY WEBSITECLONE PROJECT1M = 1 Million Kilometers
= 100Mil. Km
Showing planets' radii in Kilometers