What if the Planets Replaced the Moon?

Planets replacing the moon? Amateur astronomer, Nicholas Holmes made a video on his YouTube channel about it.

All of his videos are about space and uploaded to his channel called Yeti Dynamics. This video has gone viral several times since he first posted it in 2013. To date, it has amassed almost 42 million views!

Holmes told Business Insider in an email,”I wanted to see what it would look like.” “My primary drive is to settle my own curiosity.”

Calculations are correct

Holmes even received kudos for the accuracy of his calculations! Dr James O’Donoghue, a Planetary Scientist at JAXA check the numbers himself! [1]

How did he do it?

Holmes recorded the angle you see in the video in Huntsville, Alabama and creating the stunning effect using 3ds Max software.

Here is a version of the planets replacing the moon at night. Have a look!

For those of you interested in trying to create the same effect, Holmes offered a simple DIY to help roughly re-create how big these planets would appear if they hung in the sky at the moon’s distance.

“A simple demonstration is to hold out a dime at arm’s length. That’s about the diameter of the moon,” Holmes said. “If you hold out a dinner plate, that’s about the size of Jupiter. Maybe it doesn’t take up the ‘entire sky,’ but it’s pretty darn big.” [2]

Holmes has been creating videos about space since 2012. To date, ‘the moon replacing the other planets’ video by far, has the most views. To see more of his videos, visit his YouTube channel Yet Dynamics.

If you want to explore more articles about outer space click here.

Travel responsibly taking only memories and leaving a near to zero carbon footprint. We are all visitors on this beautiful planet of ours. Let’s treat it and all inhabitants with love and respect!

Helen Hatzis
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