decorative picture of space events
Aeronautics Home PageVirtual Visits (Video Conferencing, Virtual Tours, Webcasts, plus more.)Math and Science ResourcesTeachers ResourcesInternet Access Research ArchiveLink to Learning Technologies Project (LTP) Homepage

       Math & Science Home | Proficiency Tests | Mathematical Thinking in Physics | Aeronauts 2000

CONTENTS
 

Introduction

Fermi's Piano Tuner Problem

How Old is Old?

If the Terrestrial Poles were to Melt...

Sunlight Exerts Pressure

Falling Eastward

What if an Asteroid Hit the Earth

Using a Jeep to Estimate the Energy in Gasoline

How do Police Radars really work?

How "Fast" is the Speed of Light?

How Long is a Light Year?

How Big is a Trillion?

"Seeing" the Earth, Moon, and Sun to Scale

Of Stars and Drops of Water

If I Were to Build a Model of the Cosmos...

A Number Trick

Designing a High Altitude Balloon

Pressure in the Vicinity of a Lunar Astronaut Space Suit due to Outgassing of Coolant Water

Calendar Calculations

Telling Time by the Stars - Sidereal Time

Fields, an Heuristic Approach

The Irrationality of

The Irrationality of

The Number (i)i

Estimating the Temperature of a Flat Plate in Low Earth Orbit

Proving that (p)1/n is Irrational when p is a Prime and n>1

The Transcendentality of

Ideal Gases under Constant Volume, Constant Pressure, Constant Temperature and Adiabatic Conditions

Maxwell's Equations: The Vector and Scalar Potentials

A Possible Scalar Term Describing Energy Density in the Gravitational Field

A Proposed Relativistic, Thermodynamic Four-Vector

Motivational Argument for the Expression-eix=cosx+isinx

Another Motivational Argument for the Expression-eix=cosx+isinx
Calculating the Energy from Sunlight over a 12 hour period
Calculating the Energy from Sunlight over actual full day
Perfect Numbers-A Case Study
Gravitation Inside a Uniform Hollow Sphere
Further note on Gravitation Inside a Uniform Hollow Sphere
Pythagorean Triples
Black Holes and Point Set Topology
Additional Notes on Black Holes and Point Set Topology
Field Equations and Equations of Motion (General Relativity)
The observer in modern physics
A Note on the Centrifugal and Coriolis Accelerations as Pseudo Accelerations - PDF File
On Expansion of the Universe - PDF File
 

"Seeing" the Earth, Moon, and Sun to Scale

The moon is about 1.3 light-seconds away (240,000 miles). Here is a scale picture of the Earth-moon system, with the earth (actual diameter: 8,000 miles) represented by a circle just a little bigger than 1/8 inch:

(Remember this picture the next time you watch the movie Apollo 13!)

The sun is 8.3 light-minutes away (93,000,000 miles). A scale drawing is not as easily made here as it was for the Earth and moon above. If we chose the same 1/8 inch diameter circle to represent the earth, then we would require a circle bigger than one foot in diameter to represent the sun (actual diameter: 864,000 miles). The center of the sun circle would have to be placed about 121 feet from the center of the earth circle! You can begin to be impressed by the different sizes and separations that we encounter in space.

The terms light-seconds and light-minutes are used as units of distance along with light-years. These units may be understood as distances, or in another way. When we look up, we see the moon and sun, not as they are now, but as they were 1.3 seconds and 8.3 minutes ago, respectively. Hence, the concept of the space-time continuum: the further out we look into space, the farther back we see into time.


Please send suggestions/corrections to:
Web Related: David.Mazza@grc.nasa.gov
Technology Related: Joseph.C.Kolecki@grc.nasa.gov
Responsible NASA Official: Theresa.M.Scott (Acting)