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Our solar system |
Isn’t this where things in astronomy always start
at? See the Earth-Moon orbit compared to the Sun’s
disk, the Earth-Moon distance compared to the disks of
the Earth and the Moon itself, and more. |
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How large does the Sun’s disk
appear from other planets? |
We are familiar with the Sun’s disk as it appears
from Earth. But how large does it appear when seen from
each of the other planets? |
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Jupiter as seen from Metis and
Ganymede |
Try to get a sense of how large Jupiter’s disk
would appear when seen from its closest satellite, Metis;
and also from its largest one, Ganymede. |
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Compare the Earth with Jupiter’s
Red Spot |
How large can a cyclone be? Compare the size of the
Earth and Jupiter’s Red Spot, by superimposing the
former over the latter. |
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Distances of satellites from
their planets |
See a pictorial comparison of satellites and their
planets, all in one diagram. A table with the distances
of all known satellites is also provided. |
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Our neighborhood of stars: who’s
up to 12, and up to 25 l.y. away |
First venturing out of our solar system. See how far
the closest star is, compare the sizes of the stars in
the Alpha Centauri system to our Sun, and see a
stereogram of our neighbors up to 12 l.y. away, and
another one with stars up to 25 l.y. away. Animated! |
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Our neighbors up to 50 l.y.
away |
Stepping back at 50 l.y. away from Sun. See several
well known stars, such as Arcturus and Altair. |