An illustrator faces an insoluble problem: the Solar System does not fit on a page. Try it yourself.
The question
Can you draw the Solar System to scale, and still see anything?
What you do Place the planets at their true distances, then enlarge them step by step until you can see them. Try the evenly spaced distances of the usual diagrams too.
Without JavaScript, here are the animation’s data.
| Body | Diameter (km) | Mean distance from the Sun (million km) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | 1,391,400 | — | 1 |
| Mercury | 4,879 | 57.9 | 2 |
| Venus | 12,104 | 108.2 | 2 |
| Earth | 12,756 | 149.6 | 2 |
| Mars | 6,792 | 228.0 | 2 |
| Jupiter | 142,984 | 778.5 | 2 |
| Saturn | 120,536 | 1,432.0 | 2 |
| Uranus | 51,118 | 2,867.0 | 2 |
| Neptune | 49,528 | 4,515.0 | 2 |
At that scale, if Neptune were 1 metre from the Sun, the Earth would measure 0.003 mm, Jupiter 0.03 mm and the Sun 0.3 mm: less than a grain of sand.
These scaled sizes are calculated from the table. The order of the planets is the one given in the article.
The takeaway To scale, the planets are invisible. To see them, you have to lie about the sizes, or about the distances. Every picture of the Solar System lies about at least one of the two.
Photo credits 9
- The Sun in visible light, photographed by NASA’s SDO satellite on 10 August 2024. NASA/SDO, AIA, EVE and HMI science teams, Public domain, source
- Mercury, a mosaic of images from NASA’s MESSENGER probe (2011). NASA/JHUAPL, Public domain, source
- Venus, wrapped in clouds, photographed by NASA’s Mariner 10 probe in February 1974. NASA/JPL-Caltech, Public domain, source
- The Earth photographed on 7 December 1972 by the Apollo 17 crew on their way to the Moon: Africa, Antarctica and the Arabian Peninsula are visible. NASA, Apollo 17 crew, Public domain, source
- Mars, a mosaic of 102 images from the Viking 1 orbiter (1980); in the centre, the Valles Marineris canyon. NASA / USGS (PIA04304), Public domain, source
- Jupiter photographed in full by the Hubble Space Telescope on 21 April 2014. NASA, ESA and A. Simon (Goddard), Public domain, source
- Saturn in natural colour, from images taken by the Cassini probe (2008). NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute, Public domain, source
- Uranus photographed by the Voyager 2 probe in 1986. NASA/JPL-Caltech, Public domain, source
- Neptune, from the last whole-planet images taken by Voyager 2 through green and orange filters (1989); the Great Dark Spot is visible. NASA, Public domain, source
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Sources 3
Williams, David R., “Sun Fact Sheet”, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (NSSDCA), updated 9 May 2024, mean radius (the diameter in the table is twice this).
Volumetric mean radius (km) 695,700.
Open access open the source · checked on 27 October 2026
Williams, David R., “Planetary Fact Sheet – Metric”, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (NSSDCA), updated 18 March 2025, rows “Diameter (km)” and “Distance from Sun (10^6 km)”, columns Mercury to Neptune.
Diameter (km) 4879 12,104 12,756 6792 142,984 120,536 51,118 49,528 […] Distance from Sun (10^6 km) 57.9 108.2 149.6 228.0 778.5 1432.0 2867.0 4515.0
Open access open the source · checked on 27 October 2026
Union astronomique internationale, “IAU 2006 General Assembly: Result of the IAU Resolution votes”, communiqué iau0603 du 24 August 2006, results-of-votes press release.
the Solar System consists of eight "planets" Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
Open access open the source · checked on 9 September 2026