Assume the size of the Sun is represented by a baseball (diameter about 7 cm). At this scale, the Earth is about 15 metres (150 million km or 8 light-minutes) away. How far away, to scale, would the nearest stars to the Sun be? Pick the closest answer.
A) about the distance between Windsor and Toronto (about 400 km)
B) about 100 metres away
C) about the distance across Canada from Toronto to Vancouver (about 4300 km)
D) about the distance across 50 football fields (50 x 100 m, or 5 km)

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

At this scale, the nearest stars (Proxima Centauri and the Alpha Centauri system) would be approximately 4300 km away, similar to the distance across Canada from Toronto to Vancouver. This is because the actual distance to these stars is about 4.24 light-years, which, when scaled down using the baseball analogy for the Sun, translates to thousands of kilometers on Earth.

Assume the Size of the Sun Is Represented by a Baseball