What is a Model in Science? In this activity, you will be
fitting different models to the spectrum of a supernova remnant.
But first you need to know what a Scale model of the Sun and
planets. In this model, the Sun is 10-inch diameter playground
ball. Models can take many different forms depending on what you
want to use the model for. For example, let's say you wanted to
model the relative sizes of the planets. The largest ball you
have is a pilates ball, which is about 65 cm in diameter. Using
the pilates ball as a model for the Sun, then you could pick up
a pea to represent Mars, a pinhead to represent Mercury, and a
golfball to represent Saturn. These would all comprise a model
of the relative sizes of the planets. However, the model doesn't
encompass everything about the planets for example, it doesn't
represent their relative densities or distances. In this
activity, you will be using a different sort of model. The above
example is a physical model one that you can touch with your
hands. To model a sup