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The Peppercorn Model of the Solar System

 
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The Peppercorn Model, also known as the Thousand Yard Model, is a scale model of the solar system which shows, at the same time and on a linear scale, both the sizes of the planets and the distances between them. At this scale the Sun is about the size of a soccer ball, the Earth is about the size of a peppercorn, and Pluto is a grain of salt about 1000 yards from the Sun.

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Solar System
Object 		Model Object
and Diameter 		Distance†
(in AU) 		Added
Distance		 Total
Distance
Object inches mm AU yards meters yards meters
Sun a soccer ball 8.7'' 22 cm 0.00     0 yd 0 m
Mercury a pin head 0.030'' 0.8 mm 0.39 +10 yd +9 m 10 yd 9 m
Venus a peppercorn 0.075'' 1.9 mm 0.72 +9 yd +8 m 19 yd 17 m
Earth a peppercorn 0.079'' 2.0 mm 1.00 +7 yd +7 m 26 yd 24 m
Mars a pin head 0.042'' 1.1 mm 1.52 +14 yd +12 m 39 yd 36 m
*Ceres a grain of salt 0.006'' 0.15 mm 2.77 +32 yd +29 m 72 yd 65 m
Jupiter a walnut,
or chestnut		 0.89'' 23 mm 5.20 +63 yd +57 m 134 yd 123 m
Saturn an acorn
or hazelnut		 0.75'' 19 mm 9.58 +113 yd +103 m 247 yd 226 m
Uranus a coffee bean 0.318'' 8 mm 19.20 +249 yd +228 m 497 yd 454 m
Neptune a coffee bean 0.308'' 8 mm 30.10 +281 yd +257 m 777 yd 711 m
*Pluto a grain of salt 0.014'' 0.36 mm 34.50 +113 yd +103 m 890 yd 814 m
*Haumea a grain of salt 0.008'' 0.20 mm 50.50 +413 yd +377 m 1303 yd 1191 m
*Makemake a grain of salt 0.009'' 0.23 mm 52.50 +53 yd +49 m 1356 yd 1240 m
*Eris a grain of salt 0.014'' 0.37 mm 96.10 +1125 yd +1029 m 2481 yd 2269 m
*dwarf planets
 		 Model Object
 		 Diameter
 		 Distance
(in AU)
† semi-major axis 		Added
Distance 		Total
Distance

On this scale the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, would be about 4,000 miles away!

1 AU = 1 Astronomical Unit = average (mean) distance between the Earth and the Sun
1 AU = 1.4960 × 1011 meters =  9.2956 × 107 miles

Scale: 1 inch = 100,000 miles

Sites

References

  1. The Thousand-Yard Model or, The Earth as a Peppercorn from NOAO
  2. The Thousand-Yard Model or, the Earth as a Peppercorn by Guy Ottewell
  3. The Peppercorn Model of the Solar System a presentation by Eric Myers for the joint meeting of the New York, New Jersey, and New England sections of the American Association of Physics Teachers, held at Marist College on Sept. 28th 2013.

Other Resources

  1. Sagan Planet Walk in downtown Ithaca, New York
  2. Voyage Model Solar System on the Capital Mall in Washington, D.C.
  3. Other solar system models (from Wikipedia)
  4. SOLAR SYSTEM Passport to the Planets - A Scale Model of the Solar System - Student activiy for 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students
  5. Scales of the Universe - relative sizes of all things large and small
  6. If the Moon were only one Pixel - a tediously accurate scale model of the solar system
  7. To Scale: The Solar System - On a dry lakebed in Nevada, a group of friends build the first scale model of the solar system with complete planetary orbits

  8. Lightspeed Model of the Solar System - an alternative model of the solar system where the planets are arranged by the time it takes light from the Sun to reach them.
Last updated: 17 March 2022
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