Assume the size of the Sun is represented by a baseball with the Earth is about 15 meters (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 New York and Boston. (330 km)
B) 100 meters away
C) About the distance across the United States from New York to Los Angeles (4300 km).
D) About the distance across 50 football fields. (50x 100 m)

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The nearest star system to our Sun, Alpha Centauri, is about 4.37 light years away. At the baseball-Earth scale, this would be about 2700 kilometers, which is roughly the distance across the United States from New York to Los Angeles. None of the other answer choices are close to this scale. The nearest star system to our Solar System is Proxima Centauri, which is approximately 4.24 light years away. At the scale given in the question, this would be equivalent to a distance of about 4300 km, which is the distance across the United States from New York to Los Angeles. The other answer choices are too small to accurately represent the vast distances between stars in our galaxy.

Assume the Size of the Sun Is Represented by a Baseball