01
Logarithmic, not linear
On a true linear scale, Mercury through Mars would bunch up in the first few pixels and Neptune would be off-screen. The distance view above uses a log scale to keep every planet visible.
Learn · Question
Why aren't solar system diagrams drawn to scale?
No single diagram can show planet size and orbital distance accurately at the same time. Switch between the two views below to see why — the same eight planets, drawn two honest but incompatible ways.
Visual model
Pick one: size, or distance. Not both.
Planetary diameters use one linear scale here (Earth = 14 pixels). The gaps between planets are arbitrary, and tiny planets may be only a few pixels wide. Jupiter really is about 11× Earth's diameter.
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Average Sun–planet distances are plotted on a logarithmic axis here (not on a linear physical-distance scale). Every planet is drawn as the same small dot — at true relative size, the inner planets would be invisible pixels.
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Diameter ratios: NASA GSFC Planetary Fact Sheet. Earth = 1.00; Jupiter = 11.21. A circle's diameter, not its area, represents the ratio.
What's simplified
Even the "distance" view isn't fully honest.
02
Orbits aren't circles
Real orbits are ellipses, and this simplification (like most diagrams) treats distance as a single number rather than a range.
03
2D, not 3D
Planets don't orbit in exactly the same plane. This diagram, like almost every solar system diagram, flattens that out.
Go deeper
Keep exploring.
Next in this series →
Reading space images ↗
Distinguishing photos from models.
Home
Solar system model
See the same size/distance trade-off explained on the homepage's Scale Lab.
JPL
Make a scale solar system
Build a physical model and feel the size/distance trade-off in a hallway.