The Sun is a soccer ball. The Earth is a peppercorn. Now take a walk.
The Sun, actual size at this scale: a ball 220 mm (8.66 in) across. Only this sliver fits on the page.
Start at the Sun. Take ordinary steps — about 1 m each. Steps is the count from the previous stop; Total is the running count from the Sun. Every planet on this page is printed at its true model size.
| Planet | Steps | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Mercury | 10 | 10 |
| Venus | 9 | 19 |
| Earth | 7 | 26 |
| Mars | 14 | 40 |
| Asteroid Belt | 31 | 71 |
| Jupiter | 95 | 135 |
| Saturn | 112 | 247 |
| Uranus | 249 | 496 |
| Neptune | 281 | 777 |
| Pluto | ~242 | 1019 |
Pluto is 1,019 steps out — nearly a kilometer of walking to cross a solar system whose Sun fits under your arm. Notice how the first four planets huddle within 40 steps, then the giants stretch away by the hundreds.
On-screen sizes are approximate — the printed sheet is exact.
| Body | Diameter (km) | Scaled dia. (mm) | Scaled dia. (in) | Orbit radius (km) | Scaled orbit (m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | 1,391,900 | 220.00 | 8.66 | — | — |
| Mercury | 4,866 | 0.77 | 0.03 | 57,950,000 | 9.16 |
| Venus | 12,106 | 1.91 | 0.08 | 108,110,000 | 17.09 |
| Earth | 12,742 | 2.01 | 0.08 | 149,570,000 | 23.64 |
| Moon | 3,474 | 0.55 | 0.02 | 384,000 | 0.06 |
| Mars | 6,760 | 1.07 | 0.04 | 227,840,000 | 36.01 |
| Asteroid Belt | 150,000,000 | 23,708.60 | 933.41 | 405,000,000 | 64.01 |
| Jupiter | 142,984 | 22.60 | 0.89 | 778,140,000 | 122.99 |
| Saturn | 116,438 | 18.40 | 0.72 | 1,427,000,000 | 225.55 |
| Uranus | 46,940 | 7.42 | 0.29 | 2,870,300,000 | 453.67 |
| Neptune | 45,432 | 7.18 | 0.28 | 4,499,900,000 | 711.24 |
| Pluto | 2,274 | 0.36 | 0.01 | 5,913,000,000 | 934.59 |
| Kuiper Belt (inner) | 5,000,000,000 | 790,286.66 | — | 9,000,000,000 | 1,422.52 |
| Kuiper Belt (outer) | — | — | — | 14,000,000,000 | 2,212.80 |
| Heliosphere | — | — | — | 15,000,000,000 | 2,370.86 |
| Oort Cloud (inner) | 750,000,000,000 | 118,542,998.78 | — | 750,000,000,000 | 118,543.00 |
| Oort Cloud (outer) | — | — | — | 1,500,000,000,000 | 237,086.00 |
See this model staged on real ground:
Earth as a Peppercorn in Vassallo Park
Or stage it anywhere yourself with the
Solar System Model tool
← More scale models at Star In A Star