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Why there are two high tides a day.
Moon · Question
How far away is the Moon, really?
Most solar-system diagrams compress size or distance. This scrollable Earth–Moon model keeps one physical scale for both. Compare how the real gap changes over the Moon's orbit, without enlarging either body.
Visual model
To scale, both size and distance.
Approximate near / average / far distances measured center to center. These are representative orbital distances, not today's measured separation. Body diameters and the distance scale remain unchanged.
Earth
Moon
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Mean center-to-center separation: 384,400 km (30.13 Earth diameters). One pixel ≈ 213 km. Earth is 60px across; Moon is 16px across.
This is a scrollable ruler, not a simulation of orbital speed. The entire strip uses a single linear distance scale. Its large empty region is intentional.
Measurable fact
A surprising fact about that gap.
384,400 kmAverage Earth-Moon distance, center to center.
30.1 EarthsThat distance in Earth-diameters.
27%The Moon's diameter compared to Earth's — unusually large for a moon.
A near matchThe other seven planets' mean diameters total roughly 380,000 km — comparable to the 384,400 km center-to-center distance. They do not literally all fit between the two surfaces at the average distance.
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Why solar system diagrams aren't to scale
Why the full solar system can't get this same treatment.
Moon
Moon phases
Back to the interactive Moon phase model.