This project takes a few simple materials and turns them into a stunning space scene, while providing numerous learning opportunities for the whole family. The diorama isn't intended to provide any kind of correct scale in terms of the sizes of the planets or the distances between them, although we still chose different-sized polystyrene balls to give an overall impression of their relative sizes. You can use any size of balls for your planets, but make sure that they'll all fit in your box. We hung our planets in the correct order, but at different heights and depths - be as creative as you like. In ours, Saturn is hanging at an angle, although this was purely to save space!
Craft your cosmos
Before painting the box, remove or cover any shiny tape. We also lined the base of the box with a sheet of heavy-duty brown paper. This covered the flaps and gave a smoother back to our diorama. Painting the background is a fun, creative process that allows you to make a space scene in whatever style you like. We included nebula clouds, galaxies and stars, but you can use different colours, add comets, or even some fairy lights!
This story is from the September 2023 edition of BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 2023 edition of BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Unearthing galaxies in the archives
Comparing old Hubble data to today is revealing distant active galaxies
Voyager 1 is back online and exploring the unknown
An interstellar rescue brings the venerable spacecraft back after months out of action
When Haydn met the Herschels
Jonathan Powell on how the astronomer siblings inspired the famous composer
A quicker way to colourise your narrowband frames
Create a bicolour image in Siril using data from just two narrowband filters
Manhattanhenge
New York's urban island of Manhattan, with its gridiron street layout, sees summer Suns set neatly between skyscrapers. Jamie Carter explains the phenomenon
A very British eclipse
In 1927, Britain experienced its first total solar eclipse since 1724. Mike Frost looks at how, like 8 April 2024's US spectacle, eclipse fever swept the nation
The spirit of the eclipse
Eclipse chaser Yvette Cook reports on what it was like in the path of totality in Texas during 8 April's Great American Eclipse
Cosmic rays
In part two of our series, Govert Schilling looks at cosmic rays, the high-energy particles that bombard Earth from space
Stones of the SOLSTICE
Jamie Carter explores 12 ancient stones, tombs and temples across the world that align with the Sun at the solstice
Surfing spacetime with LISA
A new era of gravitational wave astronomy is on its way as the ambitious upcoming LISA space mission joins a host of huge detectors on Earth. Charlie Hoy explains
