Make a Scale Model of the Solar System
Enter the size you would like the Sun to be, and it calculates how big and far away everything else would be to that scale.
A good one to use, that sets the Earth at 1cm, is to choose 110mm for the Sun. At this scale, the Earth is 11.8m from the Sun and over 3000km to the next closest star!
EDUCATIONAL ASTRONOMY RESOURCES
Things to Do and Explore
Pictorial Guide to the Largest Things in our Solar System
Shows to scale all the bodies in our solar system that are larger than around 300km.
Explore the Sky and the Sea
Lots of information about things in the heavens and under the sea, including games and picture galleries.
The Nine (now only eight) Planets
A huge quantity of data about the Sun, Planets, Moons, Dwarf Planets, Asteroids, Comets and more!
Sky and Space Information
Moons of the Planets
Provided by Sky and Telescope magazine, this series of pages tell you about the moons of all the planets in our solar system, including the dwarf planets Pluto and Eris.
Heavens Above
Find out when you will be able to see the International Space Station, the Space Shuttle or any satellite orbiting the Earth. Tell it your location and it will tell you where to look and when for the best chance to see it.
NASA Resources
Cosmic Distance Scale
Similar to the 'Powers of 10' film that zooms out from the Earth to the largest scale in the Universe. This one leave out some big chuncks of empty space though.
Solar System Simulator
This one is for more advanced students. It allows you to locate the position of any body or deep space spacecraft in the solar system at any date.
Kids Club
Plenty of fun activities (and some competitions) for primary school kids.
Planetary Data Centre
Information about NASA's and other space missions and the things that they are or have been studying. There is even some information about future missions that are still in the planning stages.
Planetary Maps
This is a great resource for people playing with 3D modelling software to create their own solar system. These maps let you turn an ordinary sphere into a proper looking planet, moon or other object.
The Apollo Archive
A great archive of just about all the information returned from the only manned missions to the moon.
Astronomy Software
Celestia
Free night sky and space simulator. This software is used by museums and planetariums as well as teachers and students.
Distant Suns - Astronomical Software
This is a very good desktop planetarium program.
The Great Moon Hoax
The Fox network aired a program in February 2001 which claimed that the Apollo program to land men on the Moon was all faked. The evidence used to support this claim relied on very bad science and has been well refuted, but the popular belief in the hoax persists. Below are some detailed explanations of the facts and even some humour.
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Page last updated:
21 May, 2009
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