Buzz
The Solar System is a planetary system consisting of the Sun and eight planets revolving around it: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Once you grasp the size and order of these planets, drawing the Solar System becomes a breeze. This is also a great way to learn about the characteristics of celestial bodies that share space with Earth, and you can even scale the Solar System by reducing the distance between the Sun and the planets.
Steps
Draw the Sun and the Planets
Start by drawing the Sun on the left side of the page. The Sun is the largest object in the Solar System, so make sure to draw a large circle to represent it. Fill in the circle with shades of orange, yellow, and red to symbolize the hot gases that form the Sun. Leave enough space around it to fit all the planets.
- The Sun is primarily made up of helium and hydrogen gases, created through a process known as nuclear fusion.
- You can draw the Sun freehand, use a compass, or trace around a circular object.
Draw Mercury to the right of the Sun. Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System and the closest to the Sun. Draw Mercury as a small circle (remember, it should be smaller than the other planets you will draw), and color it dark gray.
- Like Earth, Mercury has a molten core and a solid outer crust.
Sketch a larger circle to the right of Mercury to represent Venus. Venus is the second planet closest to the Sun and larger than Mercury. Color Venus with various shades of yellow and brown.
- Venus appears brownish-yellow due to clouds of sulfur dioxide that cover the planet's surface. However, if we could pass through the clouds and observe the planet's actual surface, we would see it in red-brown color.
Draw Earth to the right of Venus. Earth and Venus are similar in size (Venus' diameter is only 5% smaller than Earth’s), so draw Earth just a little larger than Venus. Color the continents green and the oceans blue. Leave some spaces to represent the clouds in Earth's atmosphere.
- One reason why life exists only on Earth (and not on any known planets in the Solar System) is because the distance from Earth to the Sun is not too close to cause extreme heat, nor too far to freeze everything.
Add a smaller circle to the right of Earth to represent Mars. Mars is the second smallest planet in the Solar System, so draw it slightly larger than Mercury but smaller than Venus and Earth. Color Mars in shades of red and brown to give it its rusty appearance.
- Mars has a reddish color due to iron oxide covering its surface. This same iron oxide is responsible for the red color of rust and blood.
Draw a large circle to the right of Mars to represent Jupiter. Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System, so make this circle bigger than all the others you've drawn so far; just remember that it should still be smaller than the Sun, since the Sun’s diameter is 10 times larger than Jupiter’s. Color Jupiter in shades of red, orange, and brown to represent the various chemicals in its atmosphere.
Did you know? The colors of Jupiter can change with the weather. Large storms in its atmosphere bring up chemicals and materials from beneath the clouds, altering the planet's color.
Draw Saturn to the right of Jupiter with a smaller circle and a ring around it. Saturn is smaller than Jupiter but larger than all other planets in the Solar System, so draw it larger than the four planets you've already drawn. Color Saturn and its ring with shades of yellow, gray, brown, and orange.
- Unlike other planets, Saturn has a distinctive ring around it, formed from materials that broke apart in its orbit and became trapped by its gravity.
Sketch Uranus to the right of Saturn. Uranus is the third-largest planet in the Solar System, so make the circle smaller than Jupiter and Saturn but larger than the other planets you've drawn. Uranus is mostly composed of icy materials, so color it light blue.
- Unlike most other planets, Uranus doesn't have a molten rocky core. Instead, it is mainly made up of ice, water, and methane gas.
Draw Neptune to the right of Uranus. Neptune is the eighth and final planet in the Solar System (Pluto was once considered the ninth, but it has been reclassified as a dwarf planet). It is the fourth-largest planet, so make it smaller than Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus, but still larger than the other planets. Color Neptune deep blue.
- Neptune's atmosphere contains methane gas, which absorbs red light from the Sun and reflects blue light, giving the planet its blue appearance.
Sketch the orbital paths of each planet to complete the drawing. Every planet in the Solar System orbits the Sun. To illustrate this, draw a curved line starting from both the top and bottom of each planet. Extend these lines towards the Sun and out to the edges of the page to show that the planets move around the Sun.
- Ensure the orbital paths of the planets do not intersect.
Thu nhỏ hệ mặt trời
Chuyển đổi khoảng cách giữa từng hành tinh với mặt trời sang đơn vị thiên văn (AU). Để thể hiện chính xác khoảng cách giữa các hành tinh và mặt trời trong hình vẽ, bạn cần chuyển đổi các khoảng cách thành đơn vị thiên văn trước. Khoảng cách từ mặt trời đến các hành tinh tính theo đơn vị thiên văn như sau:
- Sao Thuỷ: 0.39 AU
- Sao Kim: 0.72 AU
- Trái đất: 1 AU
- Sao Hoả: 1.53 AU
- Sao Mộc: 5.2 AU
- Sao Thổ: 9.5 AU
- Sao Thiên Vương: 19.2 AU
- Sao Hải Vương: 30.1 AU
Chọn một tỷ lệ để sử dụng trong hình vẽ. Bạn có thể dùng 1 centimet = 1 AU, 1 inch = 1 AU, hay dùng một đơn vị hoặc con số khác để vẽ tỷ lệ. Tuy nhiên, lưu ý rằng, đơn vị và con số bạn sử dụng càng lớn thì tờ giấy vẽ phải càng lớn.
Lời khuyên: Với khổ giấy tiêu chuẩn, bạn có thể dùng 1 centimet = 1 AU. Nếu bạn vẽ 1 AU dài hơn 1 cm, tờ giấy của bạn sẽ phải rộng hơn cỡ này.
Chuyển đổi tất cả các khoảng cách theo tỷ lệ của bạn. Nhân từng khoảng cách tính theo đơn vị thiên văn với con số ghi trước đơn vị mới. Sau đó, hãy viết lại khoảng cách bằng đơn vị mới.
- Ví dụ, nếu tỷ lệ của bạn là 1 centimet = 1 AU, bạn sẽ nhân từng khoảng cách với 1 để chuyển đổi. Do đó, vì sao Hải Vương cách mặt trời 30.1 AU, nó sẽ cách xa mặt trời 30.1 centimet trong bức vẽ của bạn.
Use scaled distances to draw the Solar System to scale. Start by drawing the Sun on the paper, then use a ruler to mark the scaled distances from the Sun to each planet. Once the marks are made, draw the planets at those marked points.
- Note the scale you used on your drawing to indicate the distances between the planets.
Things you will need
- Paper
- Pencil
- Colored pencils
- Compass (optional)
