Why Is It So Tricky to Show the Sun, Earth, and Moon in a Diagram?

Earth, sun, moon: 3 objects successful abstraction whose interactions person a beauteous large interaction connected our lives. Earth orbits the prima erstwhile a year, and it rotates connected its axis astir erstwhile a time (depending connected your explanation of “rotate”). This gives america the night-day series and the yearly rhythm of the seasons.

The moon's gravitational tug influences the tides. On a monthly cycle, we tin besides spot the phases of the moon, which are caused by the comparative positions of these 3 orbs. A afloat satellite makes it imaginable to spot astatine night. Before electrical lights, this was a large deal.

You tin spot however these interactions operation our full thought of time. So if you were penning a subject textbook, you'd privation to see an illustration of the Earth-sun-moon system, right? But conjecture what, you can't. The distances and differences successful size marque it practically impossible.

Let's accidental we privation to physique a exemplary of the prima and Earth alone. Earth has a radius of astir 6,371 kilometers (3,959 miles), but let's correspond this with a marble 1 centimeter successful diameter. To support things successful scale, I'd person to usage a elephantine formation shot for the sun—the benignant radical sound astir astatine stone concerts—more than a metre successful diameter. You could acceptable 1.3 cardinal marbles into it.

But wait! It gets worse. That formation shot would besides person to beryllium 117 meters away. That's longer than a shot field. Now effort to instrumentality a representation of the shot and the marble. Good luck with that.

Modeling the Earth and satellite would beryllium easier. If we usage that marble for the moon, Earth would beryllium a tennis ball, with a diameter of 6.7 centimeters. Now for the amusive part. How acold isolated bash you deliberation we should enactment them? Take a guess. You'll astir apt beryllium incorrect due to the fact that we ne'er spot the Earth and satellite together. The reply is 2 meters. Here's what that would look like: