Given that there’s the entire universe to contend with, the solar system seems pretty tiny by comparison. But even though it’s but a small piece of the cosmos, our solar system still contains some vast distances. It might be hard to imagine Pluto at a distance of 3,670,050,000 miles (roughly 5,906,000,000 kilometers) from the Sun, but what if it was only 2,680 miles (4,300km) away?
In the miniverse, it is.
Miniverse is a 50-minute film produced by CuriosityStream that takes former astronaut Chris Hadfield on a road trip through the solar system. In the miniverse, the distance between the Sun and Pluto has been shrunk down to fit inside the width of the continental United States — 2,680 miles.
Along the way, Hadfield is joined by prominent figures in the fields of physics and astronomy: Michio Kaku, Derrick Pitts, and Laura Danly. Together, he and his passengers dodge asteroids, brave Earth-sized storms, and imagine what it would be like to be an astronaut visiting these distant yet close-to-home worlds.
Miniverse premiers on CuriosityStream today, April 17. You can find out more about what to expect on the journey on our Local Group blog.
