Sun model for school. Layout of the solar system do-it-yourself paper for children

"Solar system" with your own hands! July 29th, 2015

Every time the holidays come, after I am glad that I no longer have to get up early and collect the children for school, and then rush there, trying not to be late for the start of classes, I think, what would I do to keep them busy so that there are no excruciatingly boring. Of course, the simplest and cheap way it is to stick a tablet in their hands, and there they will find cartoons, games, and other entertainment. But you don’t want it like that, you want the entertainment to be of an educational and developing nature. And here one cannot do without fiction and direct parental participation.

In April of this year, when we were on vacation in Moscow, the company Space Giraffe offered to test a children's creative kit "Solar system". I happily jumped at this opportunity, since Anya, following her father Dima, has long been showing a genuine interest in the topic of space and everything connected with it. Her passion is so strong that she has already managed to infect Leva with it, who quickly learned the names of all the planets with her help.

On the indicated day, we received a set in a box of impressive size. The kids clapped their hands happily and jumped around as I unpacked it. And they were very surprised that there was nothing special inside. A set of paints, cardboard-base and hemispheres-blanks, which were destined to become models of the planets. Everything else is the work of the creator, in whose possession such a box falls, and the final result depends only on him.

First, it was necessary to prepare the base-cardboard (60 x 40 cm), painting over its entire surface with black. Anya readily took up this task and, in the process of completing it, drew a little, and then joyfully painted over her pictures. She didn’t have enough strength to complete what she started (they ended in the first 10-15 minutes) and I already finished painting the base (of course, the most boring thing always goes to my mother). However, I even liked it))) It’s quite nice to paint cardboard with black paint, this activity had a relaxing effect on me (what does a mother of many children need at the end of a working day?).

Everyone wanted to paint the planets, even little Misha. We carefully switched Misha to other activities, and began to divide the planets between Anya and Leo. The greatest excitement was caused by the Sun and the Earth, the least - by Mercury and Mars (because they are very small). There was almost a fight, in general, they painted the Sun alternately))))

While the models of the planets were drying, Anya was busy drawing the orbits for the planets on a black background with white chalk, and I read to them Interesting Facts about the planets we were preparing to place on the base to create the model solar system as soon as they are ready.

For example, that time on different planets flows differently. One day on Mercury is 58 Earth days! And the mass of the Sun is 99% of the mass of the entire solar system. And also the fact that on the Moon a person weighs 6 times less than on Earth, due to the lower force of gravity, and that Saturn is not the only planet with rings of stones, ice and other particles. Similar rings exist around Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, but only around Saturn can we see them from Earth.

Considering last fact, we decided not to make “rings” to any of the planets (for some reason, we unanimously decided that our model of the solar system in this form would look much more harmonious).

Here's what we ended up with:

The model of the solar system looks quite impressive. Bright, informative, visual! And, most importantly, handmade)

When D. returned home, Anya and Lev proudly showed him the fruit of their labor. I didn’t have time to capture Dima’s dad’s smile, but believe me, he was happy!)))

When children begin to explore the concept of the solar system, becoming aware of the fact that all the planets "circle" around the sun, this process can be difficult and overwhelming for them. However, a child can learn these principles better if you make a visual aid. Of course, it will be better and more pleasant if parents and their son or daughter make their own models of the solar system. Although many mothers and fathers do not consider it necessary and buy ready-made layouts.

Solar system: general information

Planet Earth makes one revolution every year around the center of the solar system - the Sun. All planets revolve around in a certain amount of time. For example, Mercury will "bypass" the Sun in 88 Earth days, and Uranus in 84 Earth years. In total, there are 8 planets in our system: Mercury, followed by Venus, then Earth, followed by Mars, followed by Jupiter, then Saturn, followed by Uranus, then Neptune. Each of them, together with meteors, satellites, comets, dust or gas formations, is an integral system. The planets closest to the Sun are very solid due to the constant high temperature. As you move away from the star, the temperature gradually decreases.

Features of some planets

The smallest is Mercury. This galactic object is located closest to the Sun. Because of this, the atmosphere is completely scorched. Moreover, on the light side, the temperature reaches +430°, and on the dark side - -170°.

Of particular interest is Saturn with its rings. This planet has a three-layer atmosphere. The rings of Saturn are made up of rocks and ice. On the surface of the planet, the temperature reaches -150 °.

To understand the principle of "work" of our "microgalaxy", you can make models of the solar system one of the ways. So you can decorate the interior and make an excellent visual aid.

Option number 1. How to Reconstruct the Solar System

To create a solar system you will need:

a circle cut out of cardboard (diameter about 30 cm);
scissors;
simple pencil;
colored paper;
fishing line;
scotch;
colored pencils and markers;
compass.

Step 1. In the center of the cardboard circle, you need to draw two perpendicular lines. The intersection of these diameters will serve as the fixing point of the Sun.

Step 2. Using a compass, a parent or child should draw 8 circles of different diameters, which will serve as orbits. It should be taken into account that 4 orbits should be closer to the Sun. Then leave a gap for the asteroids. Then follow the "homes" for the rest of the planets. After drawing the orbits, you need to make holes in the cardboard with scissors. One of the holes should be in the center. The rest are in chaotic order, one hole in each orbit.

Step 3. From colored paper of a suitable color, you need to cut out the planets and the Sun. On each cut out circle, you can write the names of the planets.

Step 4. Using adhesive tape, you need to attach the fishing line to the objects. The free end of the fishing line is attached with adhesive tape to outside large cardboard circle. The planets are in this sequence, starting from the closest to the Sun: the first is Mercury, the second is Venus, the third is Earth, the fourth is Mars, the fifth is Jupiter, the sixth is Saturn, the seventh is Uranus, the eighth is Neptune.

Step 5. The length of the fishing line can be adjusted to your liking. After fixing the planets, you need to hang a model of the solar system, made with your own hands, using connected three pieces of fishing line of the same length with one longer segment with a ring. The model is ready.

Option number 2. How to Reconstruct the Solar System

To make the solar system, you need to prepare the following materials:

a large foam ball;
9 bamboo skewers;
9 foam balls;
adhesive tape;
scissors or knife;
ruler;
marker;
paints, pins, fishing line;
paper.

Step 1. Cut strips of adhesive tape, sign them with the name of each of the planets and the Sun.

Step 2. Prepare 9 bamboo skewers of different lengths:

I - 2.5 inches = 6.35 cm;
II - 4 inches = 10.16 cm;
III - 5 inches = 12.7 cm;
IV - 6 inches = 15.24 cm;
V - 7 inches = 17.78 cm;
VI - 8 inches = 20.32 cm;
VII - 10 inches = 25.04 cm;
VIII - 11.5 inches = 29.21 cm;
IX - 14 inches = 25.56 cm.

Step 3. Paint the prepared paints in accordance with the color of the planet: the Sun (the largest ball) - yellow, the Earth - green and blue, Mars - red, etc.. Wait for the paint to dry completely.

Step 4. Stick the signed pieces of adhesive tape on the dried balloons.

Step 5. Attach a 2.5 inch skewer to the Sun, and attach Mercury to the other end. Then the rest of the planets are fixed in the same way in the correct order.

Step 6. You can tie up the created system by attaching a pin and fishing line to the model of the solar system.

OK it's all over Now. You can create various models of the solar system from numerous materials. The main thing is to give free rein to imagination and study literature.

Another similar model, made of papier-mâché.

A few examples of self-made models of the solar system are shown in the photographs below.

These images show that you do not need to be in order to make a visual, convenient and simply beautiful reconstruction of the solar system.

When children learn the concept of the universe, they begin to realize the fact that all the planets revolve around the sun, and for toddlers this process sometimes seems very complicated. But the child will be able to better understand these principles if you make a visual model of the solar system. Naturally, it is more pleasant and better if parents and children make this model together. Although many adults find it difficult, and they purchase finished products.

The planet Earth makes one circle around the sun every year. All celestial bodies rotate around the Sun in a certain period of time. For example, Mercury will make a circle in 89 days, and Uranus in 85 years.

There are eight planets in our Universe: Mercury, Pluto, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. All of them (simultaneously with satellites, meteors, gas or dust formations, comets) are an integral part of the Universe.

The planets that are closest to the Sun have a very solid structure due to constant elevated temperatures. Given the distance from the center of the solar system, the temperature begins to decrease.

Materials used

Making a model of the solar system for the school with your own hands is quite simple. Making a model just seems like a laborious task. In the beginning, you only need to decide on the choice of materials for work. As a rule, the layout is made using the following materials:

This is not a complete list of materials, because there is no limit to fantasy. It is only necessary to imagine how exactly the future product will look like as a result, and it will immediately become clear which material to choose for this.

Plasticine production

The easiest way is to make a model of the solar system from plasticine. The result is a fairly realistic three-dimensional layout, while manufacturing you will spend no more than one hour.

The stages of work are as follows:

All manufactured balls must be put on skewers and connected to the Sun. The model of the solar system from plasticine is ready.

Volumetric model made of cardboard

To do volumetric model Plasticine solar system on cardboard, you only need to additionally use felt-tip pens of various colors. When all the required material is prepared, you can get to work.

Styrofoam balls

You can also make a visual model with the help of foam balls. This procedure, though more painstaking, but at the same time fascinating and uncomplicated. This layout can be completely made with the child. Thus, he will certainly remember how all the planets look.

Materials required: Styrofoam sheet, Styrofoam balls of various sizes, wooden rod, acrylic paints, PVA glue, fishing line or thread, knife, hook, scissors, wooden sticks, tablespoon, brush.

The work process is as follows:

If you have time, then you can add various asteroids, comets, satellites of planets to your model. From this, the manufactured layout will only benefit.

Making planets out of cloth

Such a craft can be an informative and fun toy, or it can be a real guide to the study of space. As a frame, you can use a regular gymnastic hoop and sew a black fabric cover on it. If necessary, it can be easily removed and washed.

All planets are sewn from materials of different textures. Sewing planets with your own hands is quite simple. First, you need to cut out two circles from the fabric in accordance with the size of a particular planet. After that, they are sewn together with the outer side inward and turned inside out. Now you just need to fill the resulting balls with cotton wool or foam rubber and carefully sew up the hole. The product is ready.

Here you will need to select certain fabrics for various planets. If there is not such a wide variety of fabrics at home, and you need to go to the store, then by all means write down for yourself what texture and color materials are needed.

Required crafting materials:

papier mache sun

To make a model of this star, unusual materials will be needed. The layout will be done in papier-mâché style. The product will turn out very beautiful and voluminous. To people who have already worked with this technology, making the Sun will seem like a fairly easy process.

Materials required: junk newspapers, balloon, paper, thick cardboard, plain starch, water, primer, acrylic paints, sponge, brush, clear varnish.

Step by step instructions for making:

How to make Mars

This model can not only decorate any room, but also take its place of honor at the exhibition at the school. Making Mars, although quite simple, but, one way or another, the manufacture has certain nuances. Only with a clear implementation of all the rules will you be able to make such an original design.

Materials for manufacturing: globe, PVA glue, paper, putty, brushes, acrylic paints, colorless varnish.

Manufacturing instructions:

Making a model of the solar system is a rather informative and exciting process. There are many options for these crafts, but you do not need to immediately choose the simplest ones. Because if you devote a little more time to creating a product, then the result will be better. And the pleasure directly from work will be much more.

Reading time: 7 minutes.

Space beckons with its mysteries and mystery. Let's try on simple examples understand complex device Universe. Let's make a model of the solar system with the children and go on a journey to distant stars.

www.oyuncax.com

There are a lot of stars and planets in our universe. They are far apart, but we can even see some with the naked eye. All planets are different, and only on Earth there is life. Our Earth revolves around the Sun, and with it seven other planets. Some planets have satellites. The Earth, for example, has the Moon.

A simple rhyme will help to remember all the planets of our solar system:

All the planets in order
Call any of us:
Once - Mercury,
Two - Venus,
Three - Earth,
Four is Mars.
Five - Jupiter,
Six - Saturn,
Seven - Uranus,
Behind him is Neptune.
He is eighth in line.

In order for this short story to resonate with a child's soul, we propose to make a visual layout of the solar system, guided by one of the proposed ideas.

only-poleznoe.ru

The universe is infinite, but for convenience, let's put a part of it in a shoe box. Space in a box is easy to make, the materials are the simplest.

Remove the lid from the shoe box. Invite your child to paint the bottom and sides with the "color of the cosmos" - dark blue, black. Make stars from plasticine or colored cardboard and glue them to the walls of the space box. The most main part work - to blind all the planets of the solar system and the Sun itself. Help the child to attach the space objects to the strings and fix it on the top wall of the inverted box.

While we were making it, we memorized the names of the planets, tried to roughly maintain their sizes relative to each other and fix their location relative to the Sun and neighbors.

fastory.ru

If your baby is one of those who like to study the issue thoroughly, in all the smallest details, be puzzled appearance planets. Discuss why this or that planet is of this color, what it is connected with.

www.lassy.ru

Mercury grey . The surface is rocky with large craters.

www.lassy.ru

Venus yellow-white. It has this color because of the dense layer of clouds of sulfuric acid.

www.lassy.ru

Earth light blue. The oceans and atmosphere give it that hue when viewed from a distance. As you get closer, you can see browns, yellows, and greens.

www.lassy.ru

Mars red-orange. It is rich in iron oxides, due to which the soil is colored in a characteristic color.

www.lassy.ru

Jupiter orange with white patches. Orange is due to ammonium hydrosulfide clouds, white is ammonia clouds. There is no solid surface on Jupiter.

www.lassy.ru

Saturn light yellow. The red clouds are covered with a thin haze of white ammonia clouds, giving the illusion of a light yellow color. There is no hard surface.

www.lassy.ru

Uranus pale blue due to methane clouds. There is no hard surface.

www.lassy.ru

Neptune pale blue. It is covered with methane clouds (like Uranus), but due to the distance from the Sun it seems darker. There is no hard surface.

www.lassy.ru

Pluto light brown. Rocky surface, dirty ice methane crust give it such a shade. Sometimes they talk about it as the 9th planet of the solar system, but you should know that not so long ago it was excluded from the list of planets and attributed to dwarfs. Astronomers have substantiated the reasons for this.

fruktoviysad.ru

The planets revolve around the sun along a certain trajectory. To explain this to a child, make a layout on a horizontal plane. Draw circles and place each planet on its own "treadmill".

only-poleznoe.ru

You can show the approximate distance from the planets to the Sun on a layout with wooden skewers.

spacegid.com

twlwfiv.appspot.com

You can visualize the size of the planets and the distance to the Sun in this way. The planets are woolen balls. The sun is the top of the tree. Each planet on its own "branch".

mamadelki.ru

dmitrykabalevsky.ru

Here is an example of a visual aid that not only explains how everything works in the Universe, but also serves as a room decoration, an excellent decoration for.

www.nacekomie.ru

On sale, you can also find worthwhile benefits that will clearly demonstrate the "relationships" between the planets of the solar system.

www.nacekomie.ru

Tell us what layouts you got. We are waiting for stories and photos in the comments.

In contact with

Classmates

I saved this project on my blog specifically so that later, in a calm environment, I could figure it out and make a similar model of the solar system for my grandchildren. It makes life a little more difficult that I do not have the CNC machine that the author of the project used. But I'll think of something.

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This project explores the use of plywood to make mechanical, decorative and structural pieces.

This is an instructable on how to build a desktop model of the solar system. The planetarium is mechanical model the movements and positions of the planets in our solar system. The device accurately depicts where the earth is relative to other planets, the sun and moon, and how they move relative to each other. It can be used for education, decoration, display, gift, and interesting project to build.

I built my solar system model with half a sheet of plywood and less than $50 in other materials.

However, for full disclosure, the construction of a planetarium requires some specialized tools. My design does not require a CNC machine to cut gears from plywood. A laser cutter or 3D printer might also work here, but I don't know enough about them to be sure. I'm sure someone in the comments will correct me if I'm wrong.

The design relies on the custom of cut gears, which must be perfectly centered, symmetrical and have identical teeth. I would strongly recommend that you do not try this with non-computerized tools. Unless you're like Michael Phelps from the jigsaw, it's fine cutting 19 small gears with nearly 900 total teeth, probably more horrendous than it could be. Even small imperfections in gear cutting can cause problems because the gears all need to work together. Saturn moves in a pattern, for example, it takes 12 gears to all move together perfectly.

Step 1: Tools and Materials

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I'll start by talking about the tools and materials I used:

Tools

CNC or laser cutter
Small set of files
soldering iron
Pipe/pipe cutter (hacksaw probably work here)
Drill or drilling machine

materials

3/16 inch plywood (which is actually like 0.19 inch thick) - 2 feet by 4 feet section [<$10]
Brass tubes and rods (3 leg sections) - Found these at a local art store, I've also seen displays at some hardware stores and you can of course order them online [$25 total]
- 2 x brass rod 3/32
- ⅛ inch brass tube
- Brass tube 5/32 inch diameter
- 3/16" brass tube
- 7/32" brass tube
- Brass tube 1/4 inch diameter
- 9/32" brass tube
Washers [$2]
Super glue
Balls, wooden balls, plastic models, or whatever you want your planets to be
Wooden Golf TiS (again, optional depending on the planets)
dow rods (you can replace some of the brass window pipes here)

Stain or paint (optional, depending on how you want it to look)

Step 2: Design

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I started by hitting the internet hard and seeing what had already been done. Orreries come in all shapes, sizes, brands, patterns and designs. Some take up entire rooms; some of them can fit on the desktop. They can be made from anything from Lego to steel, but are most commonly made from brass. They also range wildly in difficulty. If you want to make something smaller and less complicated consider just making a model of the sun, moon and earth. There are tons of ideas and designs out there, so be creative when making your own.

I decided to build the mine out of plywood because it was a material that was easy to work with with the tools I had on hand. Because the parts are mechanical, I avoided real wood, because I was concerned about creating pain points on the gear teeth when they didn't match the wood grain, and I wanted to avoid even the slightest post-production distortion that real wood can bring. Any buckling would throw the gears out of alignment. Plywood is also relatively inexpensive, so I could experiment with a bunch of designs and drop the ones that didn't work.

Proportionality

In general, the idea of a planetarium is for him a model of the mutual arrangement of the planets and the sun. I also wanted to include Earth's Moon because it's easily observable. I had to be realistic about how accurate and complete it could be to give limits on size and buildability.

I thought that the model can be proportional in three ways:

Orbital period - all planets revolve around the sun in the same direction (relative to the sun) on approximately the same plane. The amount of time it takes them to go around the sun varies by planet. For land, it takes 365 days. The orbital period of a planet (or planetary year) increases exponentially as it moves away from the sun. Each time the earth revolves around the sun, Mercury has to go around about 4 times. Saturn only goes about 12 degrees at this time. I decided that it's not worth representing any planet farther from the sun than Saturn because they will barely move. That is, they have very small angular velocities that are difficult to observe in a planetarium. Just showing the first six planets captures most of the variation. For example, for every rotation of the Earth (or ~4 rotations of Mercury), Uranus will only move 4 degrees. Neptune will move a barely noticeable 2 degrees. I decided to just make the first 6 planets. Unfortunately, Neptune and Uranus (possibly the mysterious ninth planet, which may or may not exist. - https://student.societyforscience.org/article/bey...)

The size of the planet I quickly found I couldn't make planets and suns proportional in size to each other. Even if I made the moon the size of a pinhead, the sun would have to be a beach ball. Instead, I decided to have them presented in the size of the order, but not proportionally. The sun will be the largest object, but not as large as it should be. The moon, the smallest, but not as small as it should be. I still wanted this size difference to show up, so I did end up carving out the relative size of all the planets in the solar system inside the largest gear, more on that further down.

planet distance- Like Planet Size, a planetarium needs to be gigantic to represent the distance between the planets correctly, so I decided to just have them in the right order and that would be enough.

completeness

In addition to being not entirely accurate, the model is also not entirely complete.

Lun- I also choose not to depict any satellites, except for the Earth. Saturn and Jupiter together are over 100 and that would be a quick piling up of things. There are also asteroids, dwarf planets, and a whole bunch of other things floating around, but none of them are represented in the model.

Axial rotation - I also choose not to depict any axial rotation, that is, the planets do not rotate on their axis. I only considered having ground spin, but the 1/365 gear ratio was very intimidating. If anyone has ideas for an easy way to include axial rotation, I'd love to hear about them in the comments.

Step 3: Gears

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To start designing gears. Gears, the heart of the planetarium. The gears must have specific tooth ratios to ensure the planets are moving at the correct speed relative to each other.

For each gear, you need to know the number of teeth (which is proportional to its diameter) and the size of the shaft at the center of the gear. All gears should be the same thickness, plywood thickness.

For the gears, I changed the design found at http://brassorrery.blogspot.com/. The blogger was limited to brass gears being on sale. Since I have been cutting my own plywood gears, they can be any size and contain any number of teeth. Therefore, I could make the model more accurate. I used Excel to find combinations of gears that (a) were within the size range I could cut from my material and (b) accurately showed planetary speeds within 1% of the error.

I used 19 gears with the following number of teeth:

16 (x2)
40 (x3)
46 (x2)

*In size, 146-tooth gears, I've etched the months of the year around a circle. Note that the months must be counter-clockwise. I mixed it up the first time and put them in clockwise direction which is not accurate.

In the center of each gear, you will need a hole that will fit your pending brass tube. See the diagram which shows which gears have common axles. The solid lines connecting the gears show that they share a common axle. The hollow lines show that the trunnions fit into each other and should be able to rotate independently of each other.

With 74, 57, 46, and 32-tooth gears you need to fit on the same plug.
The 15 and 30 tooth gears also need to fit on the same plug.
Two pairs of 16 and 40 gears must have the same shaft diameter.
The latest 40-tooth gears need a shaft that fits into one of the 16 and 40-tooth pairs.
The 18, 35, 46, 146, 60, 61, and 76 gears all need different gears and bigger plugs because they will slide into each other in that order and need to rotate independently of each other.
The 11-tooth gears can have any tube size.

Spends some time figuring out which gears will use which tubes.

To determine the gears’ overall diameter, the only consideration was that the largest gear (146 teeth) should be approximately the diameter of the earth’s axis of rotation path. The sun, Mercury, Venus and the moon all had to fit into this path. I lined up my marble planets in an interval that looked good and found that they all fit into circles about 9 inches in diameter with the sun at the center and the earth at the outskirts. The gear that the earth rotated against was 146 teeth, so the 9 inch/146 teeth became the proportion I used to calculate the size of all other gears. (X teeth)*(9/146) = Y inches in diameter.

To make the gears, I used the following steps:

Compose each gear in a gear generator (http://geargenerator.com/)
Click "export as SVG file"
Import SVG files into CNC program (or laser cutter and 3D printer)
Scale its proper diameter according to the tooth/diameter ratio (for me, multiply the teeth by 9/146),
Add a shaft hole of the appropriate size to the exact medium
Start the machine to cut plywood
Use small files to clean up the chop Since the earth will revolve around a 146-tooth gear every year, I've added a few more months of it as a starting point. I also cut the circles in this gear in relation to the size of the planet because I wanted it to be represented somewhere, even if just decorative. The whole gear is the relative dimensions of Jupiter. The ring inside the month labels are the relative sizes of Saturn. The three big notches are the relative sizes of Neptune and Uranus (they are very similar in size). Three sets of four cutouts are the relative sizes of Earth, Mars, Venus, and Mercury. I painted all of my gears to make them look smaller, like cheap plywood. Some plywoods don't take stain well because they are a combination of different materials that absorb stain differently. Consider paint or test your stains before using it for the cut pieces.
Step 4: top and bottom plates

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Almost all gears (except for 146 and 11 teeth) are sandwiched between the upper and lower plates. These plates play several roles:
- The bottom plate acts as the base for the planetarium. Later, I put a cork shelf liner under the shafts to protect the surface it sits on.
- Both plates hold all axes in position. Gears should be in a secluded place. Close enough to what the mesh teeth are, but not so close that they bind. Finding that point can be a little tricky, so take your time and try a few things. For me, I found the distance between the axles should be equal to the sum of the radii of the gears minus 0.125 inches. At that distance, the gears went very smoothly.
- Both plates hold the vertical supports in position. I cut out six dow rods to act as vertical supports, but you can use brass tubing just as effectively. These supports keep the cymbals too close together and prevent the axis from spinning freely. They also prevent the cymbals from getting too far apart and allowing the axle to fall out of vertical alignment.
I machined the top and bottom plates on the CNC. Started with the bottom plate. I found the distance between each of the axles, and I machined the 0.1 inch clearances at the top and bottom where the five shafts would fit in to make sure they stayed in place and were perfectly vertical. I also indented 6 wooden windows in a circle.

For the top plate, I used the same cnc file with four changes.
The underside of the top plate will be a mirror image of the top of the bottom plate. So I clicked the coordinates.
The center of the axis should have holes all the way through large enough to accommodate the pipes that govern the planets
I made the top plate smaller than the diameter of the bottom plate because I thought it looked good and it allowed some of the gears to stick out and be more visible
I also put some decorative cutout circles in the top plate to make the inner gears more visible.
Step 5: Brace

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The spacer plate is an odd but necessary part of a planetarium. Its purpose is to prevent the 146-tooth gear from spinning. That the gearbox must remain stationary. A brace holds the tube that the 146-tooth gear is mounted on.

To make the take, I used the same file as the top plate with a few changes:
The center of the hole must be exactly the same diameter as the hole in the center of the 146-tooth gear.
Instead of indents for axles and vertical supports, the brace requires holes all the way through the material because all the trunnions run through the brace. They can be in the same place and the same size as the notches on the top plate though.
I changed the decorative design of the circle.
Step 6: Lever Assembly

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Now you should have all the pieces of plywood cut out:
- 19 gears
- Top plate
- bottom plate
- Double
With all these details, you can proceed to the installation of the main part of the planetarium.

First, you will need to cut the brass rods and pipes to the correct length. To calculate the length of each rod, look at the diagram to see what rod or tube needs to go all the way, then add all the thicknesses of those materials together. For my materials:
- 0.11 inch for the top and bottom of the slab
- 0.056" for each washer (the washer goes above and below each gear)
- 0.193 inch for each gear and shackle
For example, the length of my four axles (from the setback in the bottom plate to the setback in the top plate) was 2.268 inches. These are 7 layers of gears, 1 brace, 2 offsets, and 9 washers.

All pipes must end in that top plate except for the plugs that hold the planets, they must pass through the top plate. Rods and pipes that run through the center of the top plate must be long enough to not only protrude through the top of the top plate, and also continue on each irradiated 0.5 inch of brass. You can see in the photo how these plug sockets look like the good old days of a telescope if done right. Mercury, for example, will be a plug that extends from an 18 tooth gear, through 6 other layers of gears, through the top plate, through half-inch sections for Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, brace, Earth, and Venus, and another 0.5 inch of exposed brass .

Cut the bars to size using the pipe cutter. Use a small round file to make a smooth cut with a smaller diameter tube that will rotate freely in the tube.

Add gears and cut the rods according to the diagram.

Important : Don't forget to put brass washers around the axle under each gear. The washer will reduce friction between gears spinning at different speeds or reduce friction between plates of stationary and rotating machinery. Even on gears that rotate at the same speed, the washer will maintain the proper distance. A little bit of grease between the brass tubes will also help the tubes that sit inside one another to rotate freely.

Although the holes in the center of the gear were the exact diameter of the tube and a tight fit, I used a few drops of super glue to make sure the tubes rotated with the gears they were attached to.

Start installation from the bottom.

The sun does not need gears, because it is a reference point and stationary. The mine is located on top of a 3/32” rod in the center. This rod must be lowered into the notch in the base plate.

The first four planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) are the simplest mechanically. The planets are driven by an accumulation of a set of drive gears on a common axle that sit on a washer that sits on a base plate. This folded set of gears drive rotation, but they don't move relative to each other. They have the same angular velocity. These drives are articulated with planetary gears that also sit on a washer that sits on a base plate. Each planet has its own gears and axle that move independently of the other planets. The smallest bridge, Mercury, fits inside the axis for Venus, which fits inside the axis for Earth, etc., etc.

On the bottom of the gear drive stack, the 74-tooth gear drives onto an 18-tooth gear that is connected to the Mercury Bridge. Second from the bottom, a 57-tooth gear drives a 35-tooth gear that is connected to the Venus bridge. Third from the bottom, the 46-tooth gear drives another 46-tooth gear that is connected to the earth's axis. The 146-tooth shroud must be added above the 46-tooth gear. It doesn't spin, but instead holds a tube that will support a 146-tooth gear between Earth and Mars. Fifth from the bottom, a 32-tooth gear drives a 60-tooth gear that is fixed to Mars on its axle.

Note: gear ratios are proportional to the orbital period of that planet. The Earth's orbital period is 365 days, 1 year. The earth drive gear and the planet gear are 46 teeth. 46/46 = 1. For each rotation of these gears, one earth year has passed into the pattern. Mercury, gears 18 and 74 teeth. 18/74 = 0.24. Mercury revolves around the Sun in 88 days or 0.24 years. Notice also that all tooth combinations add up to 92. This is so they are always the same distance apart.

For Jupiter gears, the rotation must slow down further. This will require two more stacks of gears. Mars gears into a 40-tooth gear that shares a common axle with a 16-tooth gear. That 16-tooth gear drives into a second 40-tooth gear, which is also divided into an axle with a 16-tooth gear. The second 16-tooth gear drives the third 40-tooth gear onto its own axle that sits inside the axle of the first 40-tooth gear. The final 40-tooth gear drives the Jupiter gear.

The final pack of gears at 30-tooth and 15-tooth on a common axle use the rotation of the Jupiter gear to drive the Saturn gear.

Dry fit the vertical supports and add the top plate.

After all gears and plates are assembled. Rotation test by rotating 74-tooth gears with a finger. It should run smoothly and the center axle should rotate at different speeds (except for one girder bridge, it shouldn't spin at all). If you are satisfied with the offer, add a doe or brass tube to the vertical supports and glue to those places.

Step 7: Planets

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I decided to use balloons from my local planet store because they came in a variety of colors and sizes and had an abstract quality to them. You could use beads, wooden balls, custom-made plasticine planets, or purchase dummies. The planets must be mounted on brass handles. To enter into brass rods for balls, I used wooden golf tees. I drilled a hole of the same rod diameter straight down onto the tee. I then cut off the bottom of the tee and use super glue to secure the marble to the top of the tee. If you are using a material that can be drilled, you can skip the golf tee and stick the rods right on the planets. I found that it was more likely to crack the marbles by trying to delve into them.

Step 8: Armament Planet

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Bend 3/32 inch rods into brackets to hold planets. Bend the eye hooks into the opposite end, which is approximately the diameter of the tubes they are to be attached to.

Make sure the weapons for each planet have a lever long enough that they can pass each other without colliding.

I looked up the relative relative positions of the planets at http://www.theplanetstoday.com/ to find out where to place Saturn, Jupiter and Mars. Do not solder to Earth, Venus and Mercury just yet.

I then soldered the copper eye of the loops onto the matching tubes with a soldering iron. I filed down no extra solder.

Note: Because I used balls, the large glass balls for Jupiter and Saturn were quite heavy and would typically bend 3/32" of the rods. I used those reinforced rods with a sheath of thick brass tubes that prevented strong bending.

Step 9: Moon Mechanism

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After installing Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars on their axes. Add in 146 tooth gears to his girder bridge above Mars. Use a few drops of super glue to make sure it doesn't twist.

Note: the moon revolves around the earth every 27.32 days. Here are 13.36 times a year. We can approximate this by having an 11-tooth gear rotate around a 146-tooth gear. 146/11= 13.3.

To make the moon spin around. I drilled two holes in one of the large brass pipes. One fits over an axle that moves on the ground, and the hole at the opposite end of the tube is large enough to allow the moons of the axle to rotate freely. As the earth's axle rotates (due to the gears between the plates), he moves his arm around the outside of the 146-tooth gear. The 146 tooth gear turns an 11 tooth gear which turns the small moon arm. The earth sits on a rod that slides into the lunar bridge. A small washer is added to reduce friction between the hand and the gear.

Step 10: last planets and sun

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After the moon, the mechanism runs smoothly. Solder on the Venus and Mercury planetary arms and add the planets to the end of those arms. The sun must be placed in the past, simply mounted on the central rod.

Step 11: Finishing touches and thoughts

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I added a rippled clear plastic ring around Saturn to represent its conspicuous rings. I also added some cork shelf liner to the bottom of the base plate to protect any surfaces I put the planetarium on.

I am very pleased with how the model of the solar system turned out. If I ever did more, I would change a few things that you might want to consider.
- I operate the planetarium by moving a 74-tooth gear from my side. Adding a small crank handle could make that a little easier.
- I really like how the balls look, but they are very heavy, especially at the end of long arms. I had to make my base big enough so that if Jupiter and Saturn are on the same side, the device won't tip over. Painting different sized wooden balls can reduce the weight.
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