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VOS⁴O: Virtual Observatory Solar System Scaling Service for Outreach (page 32)
Carry, B.; Gominet, Y.; Berthier, J.

Summary

We present VOS⁴O, a simple and free web service aimed at helping the public create scale models of our Solar System. The user can set the scale, the diameter of the Sun or any planet, and the distance from the Sun to any planet. VOS4O then returns both a table with the numerical values and figures displaying the locations and sizes of the planets. The service allows customisation: users can choose the units of lengths, the language (12 are already available), and the epoch of display (useful for explaining planetary motion to, for example, elementary school kids). VOS⁴O proposes a web interface with a simple query form for most users. However, it is fundamentally a web service following the Virtual Observatory standards, and it can be easily integrated in a web page or software by querying its programming interface.