How to Build Your Own Solar System With Planet Diameters

Learn about the many astronomical wonders by building a model of our solar system.

Model-making provides an exciting activity for people of all ages and can help teach younger crafters key facts about the solar system. Building a model of the solar system can help teach such facts as the order of the planets from the sun, the relative sizes of the planets and each planet's color.

Things You'll Need

• Craft paint kit with paintbrush
• Wooden ring, approximately 12 inches in diameter
• Nine (10 if you include Pluto) polystyrene foam balls in the diameters listed in Step 1
• Spool of clear fishing line
• Scissors
• Regular sewing needle
• Eye hook

Instructions

1. 

   Paint each individual planet.

   Purchase all materials at your local craft store. Using the paintbrush from the craft kit, paint each individual part in the respective color for each planet indicated on enotes.com (see References section). Along with a wooden ring to serve as the top of the model, use polystytene balls in the following diameters indicated for each celestial body in our solar system: Sun (16 inches), Mercury (.06 inches), Venus (.16 inches), Earth (.16 inches), Mars (.06 inches), Jupiter (1.8 inches), Saturn (1.4 inches), Uranus (.6 inches), Neptune (.6 inches) and Pluto, if desired (.06 inches).

2. Using the scissors, cut nine (10 if including Pluto) lengths of fishing wire. Vary the lengths from 6 to 12 inches so that you can hang your "planets" without them colliding, as well as provide visual interest.

3. Cut two lengths of fishing wire for the top of your model to support the sun. Cut each length approximately 3 inches longer than your ring diameter. If your diameter measures 12 inches, this will make each piece 15 inches.

4. Tie one end of the 15-inch wire onto the wooden ring. Pull it directly across the ring (bisecting it) until taut, and tie it on the other side. Repeat with the other wire so that you have four even sections within the ring.

5. Thread the sewing needle with one of the prepared lengths of fishing wire. Do not tie the end as you normally would with thread. Push the threaded needle through the center of a painted (and dry) planet, carefully holding the end of the wire to avoid losing it. Carefully pull the needle off of the wire so you have wire on both ends of the planet. Tie off both sections of wire close to the respective ends so you can slide the planet up and down the wire if you later want to adjust the length. You may need to tie several knots on each end to make a knot thick enough to keep the planet from coming off the wire.

6. 

   Thread the needle with the wire.

   Repeat Step 5 with each planet and the sun.

7. Tie one end of the wire supporting the sun to the center of the wire cross you created in Step 4.

8. Tie each of the planets onto the wooden ring itself. You may wish to do this in the order they would actually occur from the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and---if desired---Pluto.

9. Cut one final length of fishing wire to serve as the hanger for your model, approximately 20 inches long. Tie one end of this wire to the top of the model ring. Tie the other end on the opposite side, leaving plenty of slack. You can use this line to hang the model from an eye hook (new or existing) in any ceiling.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a significantly smaller sun (off scale) if you would like to create visual balance within your solar system.

• Save money by using leftover interior paint or bending a hanger to serve as the top of the model instead of using a wooden ring; for a child's project, save money and reduce cleanup by using markers.

• If you have difficulty finding a correctly sized polystyrene foam ball, consider using a wooden ball (visit the doll section of your local craft store), or create one by tightly wrapping aluminum foil, though this will create a different texture.

• In 2006, Pluto was declassified as a planet, making the official count eight. However, many people disagree with this decision. If you want to add Pluto to your model, use a .06-inch diameter ball and yellow paint.

• You cannot capture the distance to an accurate scale between each planet in a hanging model. According to the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, you would need more than a half a mile of space to do so.

References

• NASA: Solar System Exploration
• National Optical Astronomy Observatory: The Thousand-Yard Model, or The Earth as a Peppercorn
• eNotes.com, Space: What Are The Colors Of The Planets?