Mini Solar System Project

How to make a bedroom (or living room) solar system:

You will need :

--10 styrofoam balls, purchasable at Michael's or other similar craft store. Get one very large for the sun, two large for Saturn and Jupiter, 2 medium-large for Neptune and Uranus, 3 medium for Earth, Venus and Mars, one small Mercury, and two tiny ones for Pluto and Earth's moon; 1 styrofoam ring for Saturn.

 Mars (left), Sun (center foreground), Neptune (center rear), Mercury, Venus, Earth (right), Pluto (left of Neptune but too small to see)

--Markers or paint with a large range of colors. We used markers which we found was fairly difficult to get the planets colored since they scraped the styrofoam off. Paint would be easier but makes more of a mess and may also produce too darkly colored planets. The markers, although not giving such good color coverage, produced a nicely realistic effect to account for light reflection off planets.

Jupiter (foreground, left), Uranus (rear by window), Mars (right)

--Paper clips (preferably white-coated), clear packing tape, measuring tape & invisible fish line.

Saturn (left rear), Earth (center rear), Mars (center foreground), Sun (right)  

Procedure:

1) Color or paint planets according to their color schemes using mixed colors.
2) Attach ring to Saturn using three straightened paperclips.
3) Attach moon to earth using on straightened paperclip.
4) Affix paper clips into styrofoam balls for hanging. It is important to adjust the shape of the paper clip the make a curved hook; otherwise it will slide out. This is especially true for the Sun as it will be very heavy.
5) Hang planets on the ceiling using invisible fish line and clear tape. Simply taping the line to the ceiling worked for all the planets except the sun. We had to attach the line to a paper clip then tape the paper clip to the ceiling to account for the weight of the sun. Get approximate proportions of solar system distances for planets from the sun and adapt to your room size. It will be difficult to get exact proportions but that's ok. In order to get a realistic effect, do not line up planets, but place them at random positions in orbit. Make sure to make the planets high enough not to bump anyone's head.

Mars (left), Sun (center), Mercury (top adjacent to sun), Venus (top right), Earth with moon (bottom right)

6) Enjoy! This makes a very attractive and creative addition to your room (if you have enough space).

By the way, here is a cool link where you can explore the solar system and outer space with the click of a mouse: http://workshop.chromeexperiments.com/stars/ You will need Google Chrome browser to view it (https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/browser/).