01
Readable vs. accurate
A true-to-scale model would make Mercury through Mars unclickable dots. Every interactive solar system model — including NASA's Eyes — makes this same trade-off.
Solar system · Question
Why does every solar system model compress distance?
On a true linear scale, the four inner planets crowd into the first few percent of the page and everything else is empty space. Below, the same eight planets plotted twice: true linear distance, then the compressed scale this site's own 3D model actually uses.
Visual model
True distance vs. the model's distance.
True linear scale (0 – 30.05 AU)
Me·Ve·Ea·Ma
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars all land within the first 5% of the width — at this resolution they're a single blur, not four distinct dots.
Space Atlas's 3D model scale (compressed)
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
The home page's 3D model spreads the inner planets out to keep them individually clickable — at the cost of no longer being a true distance scale.
What's simplified
Compression is a trade-off, not a mistake.
02
State it, don't hide it
The honest move isn't to avoid compression — it's to say clearly that it's happening, which is why every 3D scene on this site labels "distances compressed."
Misconception check
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Next in this series →
Astronomical unit ↗
Measuring solar system distance with AU.
Convert
Astronomical unit
Turn these same distances into a scale you can walk.
Learn
Why diagrams aren't to scale
The size side of the same trade-off.