A really good model can show you great details and close ups of what you want to see, yet all models have limitations. For one reason, many really good models are simplified so much that they don't really model reality... Another limitation is trying to use the same scale for distance AND diameter. It doesn't really work. Models represent the specific system that is being studied. The solar system is HUGE and includes large orbiting objects. We do need models to understand the distance between the objects just in case there are collisions... To use the same distance scale on the distance around a planet doesn't work because as it turns out, the calculations make the planets way too small! Scientists love using models because they are excellent ways to visualize their research and help them explain what they believe to be true. Our solar system has many complex properties in it...size and distance between objects has an affect on our solar system. Fun facts about the Solar System: 1. All objects in our solar system revolve around the Sun. 2. The edge of the solar system is not Pluto. Scientists believe the edge of our system extends 2 light years beyond Pluto. 3. Uranus is tilted on its side and no one knows why. 4. Mars has the largest volcano known to man. Olympus Mons, 347 miles across, 16 miles high. It is about as wide as Arizona. 5. Water ice can be found all over the solar system, it isn't the same water ice found on Earth, but it is water ice. 6. There could be microbial life found in the solar system on other moons, asteroids, or planets. Astrobiologists are diligently searching. 7. Scientists believe Mercury is shrinking. Evidence has shown new faulting activity that shows shifts on the surface of Mercury that aren't that old. 8. There are icy mountains 11,000 feet high on Pluto. At some point in time Pluto must have been geologically active (like volcanoes, lava, that stuff...) 9. Rings are found everywhere in the solar system, not just around Saturn. Astronomers have observed rings around asteroids! 10. Neptune radiates more heat than is absorbed by heat from the Sun. Scientists don't know why and are searching for answers. Knowing the scale and properties of objects in the solar system help scientists and astronomers think about the possibilities of what is in space. In fact, many scientists don't believe space is space any more, that it is really filled with something else....called "dark matter". Hmmm, how will we model "dark matter", something that we can't see and looks like space....
6 Comments
Audrey
1/3/2019 04:39:56 pm
I like the picture of the two planets colliding. I also liked the pac-man eating the planets.
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1/3/2019 05:47:16 pm
Doctor strange is one of my favorite marvel characters.
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danny
1/3/2019 07:32:44 pm
did you notice his musestache its not its a gotee
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Michael
1/3/2019 08:32:23 pm
can that two planet thing ever happen?
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macie sutherland
1/4/2019 12:47:17 pm
the pac man eating the planets r cool
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tillie frampton
1/4/2019 12:51:15 pm
what was the stuff that flew when the 2 planets hit
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Mrs. TaylorI love science! Everything about the world is interesting and never boring. I love to study plants, animals, insects, and people. My favorite subjects are my students who are the most unique organisms on the planet! Categories |