Which solar system model is best? For as long as humans could look up at the night sky, we’ve been fascinated with the stars. How far away are they? Where did they come from? What secrets do they hide ...

The solar system is difficult to show correctly. Why? It is difficult because the size of things are vastly different. Let me use units common in solar-system astronomy, the Astronomical Unit (or AU).

Introduction Have you ever built a model of the solar system for school—or even just seen a picture of the solar system in a book? The planets are usually pretty close together—and close to the sun.